Iron Man: Avatar Adventures
by Jetty1
Summary: In a fight between Iron Man and the Mandarin, Tony gets caught in a cosmic portal that teleports him to Ba Sing Se where he is found by Avatar Aang and his friends. Can he help them win the war and will they be able to get him home? Gene/Azula implied.
1. Old Fashioned

**Iron Man Avatar Adventures**

**Chapter 1: Old-Fashioned**

In Queens, New York...

Teenage billionare inventor Anthony "Tony" Stark, also know as Iron Man, was down in his newly rebuilt Armory working on his latest update, a special computer system designed to be like a butler that would follow his every order and possess a personality so it could interact with others. He called it J.A.R.V.I.S. which he defined it as Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. After connecting the last two wires, he powered up the computer and was greeted by a voice that sounded like that of a British gentleman.

"Greetings, Mr. Stark. I am Jarvis at your service."

"Good to meet you, JARVIS. Now that I got you up and running, I can start making modifications to the rest of the Armory."

"What kind of modications do you wish to make, sir?" JARVIS asked.

"Hmm," Tony said with his hand under his chin. "Well, for one thing, the security system. The way Xin Zhang and his goons broke in and blew up the place tells me that I should install better defense protocols. Also I want to modify the scanners so that they can detect any unauthorized person trying to come near the Armory."

"A brilliant idea, sir. Let's get started." JARVIS replied.

Suddenly the doors opened and in came Tony's two best friends; Pepper Potts, an independent, free-spirited and very talkative high-school student with short red hair who was the daughter of an F.B.I. agent, and James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes, an African-American kid who had been Tony's friend for years and was almost as intelligent as he is.

"Hey, Tony. I see you got the Armory all fixed up." Rhodey greeted him.

"Just about, I still got a few things to take care of and I should be done. Guys, say hello to JARVIS."

"Greetings, Mr. Rhodes, Ms. Potts." JARVIS greeted them.

The two were a little surprised by the talking computer.

"Uh, hello?" Rhodey replied.

"Um, Tony, what is JARVIS?" Pepper asked.

"Just a rather very intelligent system." Tony replied.

"Wow, how original." Pepper said sarcastically.

"Basically he's an updated artificial intelligence designed to follow mostly my orders but is also allowed to serve others like a butler and he has a built-in personality so he can be good to talk to." Tony explained to his friends.

"That's cool and all, Tony, but if JARVIS is as advanced as you say he is, wouldn't that make it easier for him to turn on you?" Rhodey asked.

"Not neccessarily, Mr. Rhodes. It is my duty to serve Mr. Stark to the best of my abilities and I would never under any circumstances compromise my loyalty to him."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear."

"So what are you gonna do now? Invent a flashy new armor?" Pepper asked.

"Actually I was about to..." Tony was cut off when something came up on the moniter.

"Sir, scanners are detecting an energy signature in an isolated area in China. Attempting to identify..." JARVIS announced.

"Tony, what's going on?" Rhodey asked.

"I uploaded JARVIS with all the data I've collected from all the villians I've faced and modified the sensors to detect anything that we haven't encountered before so JARVIS can inform us when something big is going down."

"Energy signature identified. Signature is that of a Makluan Ring currently in possession of the Mandarin a.k.a. Gene Kahn."

This piece of information made everyone's eyes fire up with anger. Two weeks ago when Tony, Pepper and their supposed friend Gene Kahn were captured by Gene's step-father Xin Zhang and forced to retrieve the fifth Makluan Ring from the fierce dragon Fin Fang Foom.

When Rhodey showed up in the War Machine Armor along Tony's Iron Man Armor, Xin Zhang, who they thought to be the Mandarin, and his goons fled, dropping his gauntlet holding four Makluan Rings in the process.

When Pepper threw the rings in the dragon's mouth, Gene seemingly sacrificed himself the save her but ended up retrieving the four rings as well as the fifth. When he emerged he revealed himself to be the true Mandarin and turned his back on them. Just as Tony was about to defeat him, he told him that his father, Howard Stark, was still alive and in Gene's possession.

"I'm going." Tony said as he started walking toward his Iron Man Armor.

**X X X**

Meanwhile, in the Four Nations Earth Kingdom capital city Ba Sing Se...

Twelve year-old Aang, the last of the Airbenders and the Avatar, was pacing around in the private residence which him and his friends were allowed to stay in with Momo on his shoulder while trying to figure out a way to talk to the Earth King about the Solar Eclipse that will render the Fire Nation powerless as well as figure out where his missing Sky Bison Appa was.

They had just come back from asking around and no one was helpful and once they were dropped off at the residence, a political figure who lived across the street named Pong said that no one in Ba Sing Se likes to talk about the war and to stay away from the Dai Li. This had everyone slightly spooked.

"I can't believe this, we've asked around and no one knows anything about Appa." Aang said aloud.

"And even worse, no one here talks about the war. What kind crazy city is this?" Sokka exclaimed.

"A prison kind." Toph said flatly.

"Come on you guys, we just got here. I'm sure something will turn up." Katara said optimistically.

"Katara, we can't a whole month just to see the Earth King" Sokka stated.

"He's right, we need to keep looking." Aang said as he made his way to the front door with his staff in hand.

"Where are you going, Aang?"

"To see if I can find Appa."

"But we just asked around and no one said they've seen him." Katara stated.

"I'm not asking around. I'm going to actually look for him. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky."

"Well then wait for us, Aang, we're coming with you." Katara said with concern as everyone followed him.

"Thanks." He replied before they all took off to search for Appa a second time.

**X X X**

Iron Man was soaring through the skies at full throttle making his way toward China to intercept the Mandarin.

Inside the Armor Tony bared a look of determination.

"Sir, Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Potts are attempting to contact you." JARVIS informed Tony.

"Patch them through, JARVIS."

"_Tony, are you sure this is a good idea?" _Rhodey asked.

"I have to stop him and I need to find out where he's holding my dad."

"I understand, man. Just make sure you don't do something you might regret."

"_Tony, please don't hurt Gene."_ Pepper pleaded.

"I'll try not to." Tony replied.

At an ancient temple in China, the Mandarin was currently fighting off a small army of stone warriors that were attempting to overwhelm him.

"I don't understand! The test stated that 'mercy is the key to great power'! I keep trying to show these things that I can be merciful and yet they still attack me!" Mandarin said angrily in his deep synthesized voice.

After using one ring to freeze the stone warriors and then another to blow them to pieces, the Mandarin heard a crash from behind. He turned and saw none other than his rival Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man.

As the two stared at each other Iron Man said, "What are you doing here, Gene?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Stark. By the way, your father sends his regards."

"Where is he?" Iron Man demanded.

"Stay out of my way or you'll never see him again."

Suddenly the two armored clad teens found themselves being approached by a large group of stone warriors that were surrounding them.

"What are you playing at, Gene?" Iron Man asked.

"If you must know, the first Mandarin had ten rings, not five, and I intend to claim them all." Mandarin explained as found himself standing beside Iron Man.

"And let me guess, you've activated the test and you can't figure out how to solve it." Iron Man taunted.

"Shut up!"

The two then stood close as they fought off the stone warriors. Iron Man used his repulsors to blast them to pieces while the Mandarin varied from freezing and smashing them to sending heat blast to blow them up.

"Gene... what... did... the test... say?" Iron Man said as he started fighting some off with his fists.

After a few seconds the Mandarin replied, "Mercy is the key to great power. I've tried showing these things mercy but they just keep attacking."

After taking down two more, Iron Man took a moment to think and said, "Wait, maybe we're not the ones that should be showing mercy?"

"What?" Mandarin inquired.

"Think about it, they outnumber us. Maybe we're supposed to beg them for mercy."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Its the only explaination. What's the chinese word for 'mercy'?"

The Mandarin looked at the enclosing stone warriors and said, "Tsyr bey!"

Suddenly all the warriors stopped in the their tracks and a small opened up in the middle of the floor and a orange-ish white light shot up from it and produced the sixth Makluan Ring that had an orange gem.

The Mandarin started approach but when he saw Iron Man look at him the two raced toward it and the Mandarin managed to grab it but Iron Man tried to rip it out of his hands. The Mandarin used his right hand and sent an energy blast to knock Iron Man to the ground and the placed the sixth ring on his left index finger.

"Yes, six down and only four left." The Mandarin gloated.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Iron Man stated as he attempt to take down the Mandarin.

The Mandarin attempted to use his newly acquired ring but as Iron Man neared him he had to quickly change his mind and use his purple ring to teleport away only something happened that the Mandarin hadn't expected.

An energy field surrounded him and Iron Man and the two vanished from the ancient temple.

**X X X**

Aang and Momo were flying side-by-side around Ba Sing Se while their friends were on the ground attempting to find Appa. Aang hoped that if the bison was out in the open he would spot him easily. As he was flying, he saw a bright light to his left in the middle of a street where his friends were walking on. He turned toward it and once he was close enough he saw a orange sphere form in the middle of the street which the local townspeople were startled by. Sokka, Katara and Toph got through the crowd and gazed in awe, Toph on the other hand could sense the energy of the sphere touching the ground and could understand everyone's shock.

After a moment the the sphere disappeared and everyone saw a tall person clad in strange black armor covering his whole body who wore six rings standing over a person clad in strange red and yellow armor covering his entire body.

Aang landed in the street behind the red-yellow clad person. He saw his friends standing behind the man clad in black so if there was any trouble, they could box them in. The man in red and yellow looked up and took in his surroundings before saying, "Where are we, how did we get here?"

The man clad in black armor said, "I don't know, but it matters not. You will not stop me from achieving my goal!"

Aang and his friends watched as the man clad in black armor held out his right hand and shot out a fire ball from the red ring on his right hand which the man in red and yellow rolled out of the way of. Aang instinctively twirled his staff to extinguise the fire ball. Judging by the behavior of the strange armored warriors, Aang strongly guessed that the one in black with the rings was anything but good and decided to send an air wave at him which made the black armored warrior take a few steps back.

"You dare to oppose me, child?" The man in black armor yelled.

Aang took a fighting stance and replied, "I don't know who you are or what you are doing here, but you're putting innocent lives in danger."

"Their lives are not my concern. You on the the other hand are making a big mistake in challenging me!"

"That's why he's got us!" Katara said which drew his attention.

He saw Katara bended the water from her canteen and formed it into a whip while Sokka drew both his boomerang and his Water Tribe Club Sword and Toph put her hands on the ground to bend two overgrown rock fists around her hands.

Though no one could tell, the man clad in black armor was surprised by what these people were capable of. He could probably take on Iron Man and an army of Dreadknights but by the looks of it these people seemed to be more than mere children.

"The Mandarin does not cower to the likes of you." The black armored warrior said before he turned and shot out a an ice beam from the blue ring toward Aang. The young Avatar bended the ice in mid-air into water and sent it back at him, knocking him back a few more steps. Katara then bended it in an attempt to freeze the Mandarin in a block of ice.

After a few seconds being frozen stiff, the Mandarin broke free and shattered the ice into pieces. Sokka then threw his boomerang at the guy's head in an attempt to stun him, however the Mandarin used his purple ring to teleport out of the path of the boomerang before it hit him.

The Mandarin reappeared a few feet in front of Sokka and young warrior attempted to strike him down. After a few missed swings, the Mandarin grabbed the club sword and pulled it out of his hands before tossing it aside and saying, "Pathetic." The Mandarin then teleported away as the boomerang came back and hit Sokka on the head, making him see stars.

"Now I know how it feels to be on the recieving end." Sokka said goofy-like before falling to the ground.

Toph immediately started shooting earth rocks at the Mandarin which he attempted to evade with his teleportation but because she shot so many at once, he got hit before he could and got a few smacks to the gut and his head.

As his friends were keeping the Mandarin busy, Aang turned and saw the man in red and yellow stand up and shoot out a beam from his chest that sent the Mandarin off his feet and through a building down an alleyway. Aang and his friends were completely baffled by what had just transpired.

The Mandarin was sent flying through the alley which resulted in him crashing through a cabbage stand and the owner cried out, "My cabbages!"

The man in red and yellow looked at Aang and his friends and said, "Thanks for the assist."

The man in red and yellow took off down the alley and Aang followed closely behind while Katara and Toph tried to help Sokka to his feet.

The Mandarin had came to a stop at a rock hard wall that was cracked by the forced impact. After shaking the cobwebs from his head, The Mandarin then looked up to see the man in red and yellow armor as well as the bald kid running toward him. He stood up and said, "We'll continue this another time." A bright purple-ish white light surrounded the man in black armor and then he disappeared.

The man in red and yellow looked at everyone around him before said to himself, "Oookay, I've been all around the world and I've never seen this place before." He then looked at Aang as Katara, Toph and Sokka caught up to them and asked, "Excuse me, could you please tell me where I am?"

Aang replied, "You're in Ba Sing Se, my name's Aang."

"The name's Iron Man."

**X X X**

**{Cue Iron Man: Armored Adventures Theme}**

**X X X**

Tony Stark looked at the bald kid named Aang from within the Iron Man Armor. He wore orange and yellow clothes and had arrow tatoos on his head and hands and carried a strange furry animal on his shoulder. He then looked at his friends, an older boy with tan skin along with a pony-tail with shaved sides dressed in blue clothing who was still dazed from the battle, girl almost as old as him with tan skin and hair loopies who also wore blue clothing, and a younger girl who appeared to be blind with her raven black hair tied back that dressed in green and yellow.

He guessed that these strange kids were different from everyone else. He had heard rumors about mutants who look like normal people and yet they possessed extraordinary abilities. Tony wondered if these kids could be mutants but he would have to look into that later.

Everyone else in the city around him wore green clothes in different shades. The houses and buildings, most of them at least, were made out of wood and tatami paper. In Tony's mind, everything and everyone here seemed so... old-fashioned.

"Uh, I don't suppose one has a world map, do you?" Iron Man asked.

"Sure thing." Aang said as he reached in his back pocket and pulled the world map out.

Iron Man opened it up and was surprised at what he saw. The world map was completely unlike any map he had seen before.

"Is everything okay, Iron Man?" Katara asked.

"Uh, are you absolutely sure that this map is accurate?" Iron Man asked.

"Yeah, we try to be as accurate as possible so we don't get lost or off course." Aang stated.

"Oh man, this isn't good."

"What's the problem?" Toph asked.

"There's an implant on my chest that's connected to my heart in order to keep me alive, but it requires power and the only place that can supply me with it is back home and I don't know how to get back before the power runs out." Iron Man explained. "However, I should be able to build a power charger if I have the right tools."

Some of what he said was a bit over their head but Aang and his friends got the point.

"What do you need exactly?" Aang asked.

"I need some tools, as much scrap metal as you can find that's made of palladium, maybe even some spare pieces of wood; and quickly." Iron Man explained.

"Alright, we'll start looking." Aang said.

"By the way, do you guys have a place I can stay for a while?" Iron Man asked.

"Sure thing, Katara, can you take him back to the house while we get the stuff he needs?"

"Not a problem, we'll wait for you there."

Aang, Momo, Toph and Sokka, who was still a bit dizzy, went looking for the supplies Iron Man asked for while Katara led Iron Man back toward the residence in which they were staying, not knowing that they were being watched by a man hiding in the shadows of the alley who wore dark green clothes and a hat.

Iron Man put his right hand to his earpiece and said, "Rhodey, Pepper, are you guys still there?"

Katara looked at Iron Man and asked, "Is something wrong, Iron Man?"

"No problem, its just that my armor has a way of allowing me to talk to people from a distance so I'm trying to see if I can still contact my friends back home."

"Wow, that's neat."

Iron Man continued, "Rhodey, Pepper, can either of you hear me?"

"Sir, I'm afraid we've lost contact with Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Potts." JARVIS said from inside the suit.

"JARVIS," Tony sighed with relief. "Well, I'm glad I can at least talk to you. Why can't we reach Rhodey and Pepper?"

"This new world is unknown to ours and thus communications are inoperative however being that my program is within the suit and the Armory, I might be able to send messages back to the Armory to update Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Potts on the situation."

"Okay, begin message. Rhodey, Pepper, this is Tony. During my fight with the Mandarin, I learned that there are ten Makluan Rings, not five. I tried to stop him from getting his hands on the sixth one but I was too late. We both got teleported to another world that's similar to Earth and yet so different. Communications are down so I'm relaying this through JARVIS. Right now I'm following a group of kids to hold up somewhere until I can figure out more. I'll be in touch. Take care... End message and send."

"Message sent, sir."

Meanwhile Aang, Toph and Sokka, who had regained his senses, were looking for the supplies Iron Man needed when Sokka said, "Why are we even helping this guy? Didn't you see his red and yellow armor? He has to be a spy for the Fire Nation."

"He's not a spy, Sokka." Aang said to him.

"How can you tell?"

"Because if he was a spy, I don't think he would be walking around Ba Sing Se wearing strange red and yellow armor."

Sokka held up his right index finger with his mouth open about ready to say something. After three seconds he put his hand down and said, "Okay, he's got a point."

"And besides I can tell that he had no indication to attack anyone. His heart was calm once we chased away that heavy-set guy." Toph explained.

"If you guys say so, but there's something about him that I just don't trust."

**X X X**

Five minutes later, the three kids returned to the residence with the supplies and Iron Man got started building the power recharger. The children sat back and watched in amazement at how he was building something that none of them thought was possible. It took a few hours for Iron Man to completely build it before he plugged it into his chest piece, causing him to sigh with relief. It was a small device about the size of a car battery that would recharge itself as well as his chestpiece. Fortunately he could unplug it and be able to carry it with him.

After listening to Iron Man explain his side of the story as he recharged, everyone had their own reaction toward him. Katara was shocked and amazed that he came from a different world. Toph was very interested in his armor and who he was underneath it and Sokka was his usual paranoid self, not trusting Iron Man especially given that he won't tell them who he really was under the armor but he had to admit that the guy was a genious for what he had just built. Momo was currently crawling on top of his armor attempting to get a feel for it.

"Uh, what is this thing crawling all over me?" Iron Man asked.

"Oh, that's just Momo, our flying Lemur. Don't mind him, he's just curious about your armor." Aang explained.

"Tell us, why do you where this suit of armor?" Toph asked as she knocked her hand on the arm of Iron Man's armor which sounded like _CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK_.

"I built it to allow me to fight bad guys and protect the innocent where ever I go." Iron Man replied.

"Riiiight." Sokka said.

"Hey, Iron Man, who is this Mandarin guy we were fighting?" Aang asked.

"The Mandarin is a guy I thought I knew, a kid by the name of Gene Kahn. Apparently he abducted my father and had me believe he was dead and then posed as my friend so that I could help him find the Makluan Rings."

"What are Makluan Rings?" Katara asked.

"They're powerful rings that once belonged to the first Mandarin centuries ago. Since the first Mandarin couldn't trust his many heirs with them, he scattered them throughout the world so that one day his one true heir would claim them all. So far Gene only has six out of the ten rings. It was while I was trying to stop him from getting the sixth that we ended up being teleported here."

"What happens if the Mandarin gets his hands on all ten rings?" Sokka asked.

"He'll have limitless power and I don't know what he intends to do with it."

"Wait a second, you said that while you were fighting the Mandarin as he got his hands on the sixth ring when you two showed up here, do you think the sixth ring is what brought you two here?" Aang asked.

"If so, then he's bound to figure that out for himself in which case he'll return home and leave me stranded here." Iron Man pointed out. "Unless... I can somehow build a portal that can connect back to the Armory in which case I could then return home, but it'll take a while and a lot of supplies to build it, not to mention that my friends will have to build one back home too in order to make it work."

Katara then said warmly, "Hmm, well then, you should stick with us until you fully build it."

"Yeah, the more the merrier." Aang said with enthusiasm.

"Wait, we're just gonna let him join? We don't even know who he really is!" Sokka protested.

"We know he's human, he's not with the Fire Nation and he's not out to kill us so I say that's good enough for me." Toph voiced her opinion.

Momo jumped off Iron Man as he stood up while unplugging the charger and said, "Thanks guys, I appreciate the help and all but to put it simply Iron Man doesn't have a sidekick, or sidekicks. I'll see if I can find the neccessary stuff to build the portal on my own."

With that said, Iron Man walked toward the front door and left. As soon as he was outside, he engaged his repulsor rockets and flew away.

Sokka stretched his limbs and said, "Now that he's gone we can get back to more important matters like trying to find a way to see the Earth King."

Katara turned to her brother in disbelief and said, "Sokka, we can't just let him leave. He doesn't know what's going on, he could get hurt or worse."

Sokka turned to her and replied, "Katara, he said it himself, he's a solo act. Besides we don't know anything about him, we don't even know who he really is."

"That's not the point, Sokka, he doesn't know what our world is like. What if he accidently waltzes into a Fire Nation town?"

"Relax, you saw how he blasted that Mandarin guy earlier. I'm sure he can handle an army of Firebenders."

Katara was now getting furious. "Speaking of which, what if we run into the Mandarin again? We had a hard time trying to stop him. Iron Man knows him better than we do so we might need his help."

"And how do we even know if he's any different from the Mandarin, huh? Both Iron Man and the Mandarin possess powers and abilities that make all your bending abilities look like child's play. What makes him any better than the Mandarin?"

"The fact that he's trying to do the right thing by helping people, something that you seem to be lacking." Katara then stormed out the front door in an attempt be somewhere away from her thick-headed older brother.

**X X X**

It was now sunset as Iron Man was currently flying around Ba Sing Se trying to figure out where to find the right stuff to build a portal to take him back to the Armory in his world should the Mandarin decide to strand him here. A part of him felt bad for leaving his new friends behind despite their hospitality but when he saw how primitive this world was he feared that his presence here might push people into attempting to build advanced weapons to bring him down or maybe even attempt to steal his armor in an attempt to replicate it, something that could very well tear this strange new world he was on apart.

As he was flying around, JARVIS spoke to him, "Sir, I'm detecting five heat signatures attempting to follow you."

"Its probably Aang and his friends trying to get me to reconsider." Tony said aloud.

"Unfortunately sir, these heat signatures are different from that of the children and their Lemur."

"Then who would want to follow me?" Tony asked.

Suddenly a huge rock was sent flying at him. It had hit him hard and knocked him out of the sky.

Iron Man hit the ground hard and left a slight crater where he landed. He reached out his right hand and grabbed the edge of the crater and pulled himself up.

"Sir, armor intensity has dropped to 75%." JARVIS informed Tony.

"Ugh, where did that come from?" He asked rhetorically.

"That came from us." A voice said from the shadows.

Iron Man looked up and saw five men dressed in dark green clothing with hats walk out of the shadows. They were standing tall and straight with strange gloves on their hands.

Iron Man demanded an explanation. "Who are you and why did you attack me?"

"We are are the Dai Li and you are under arrest for disturbing the peace." The head figure stated.

"Disturbing the peace?"

"Your actions earlier along with that of the four children have spurred the community into talking about the war. There is no war in Ba Sing Se." The Dai Li agent said before he held his hands up and shot his strange gloves at Iron Man's hands which locked them tightly behind his back.

As he tried to break free, Tony looked at the gloves on the other Dai Li agents and said, "JARVIS, analyse their gloves."

"Analyzing, sir. Analysis complete. The gloves seem to be made of some sort of rock."

"Rock gloves? JARVIS divert power to the hydralics." Tony issued.

"Diverting power, sir."

Iron Man pulled as hard as he could and successfully managed to break free. This surprised the Dai Li agents but they kept their shock hidden.

"You shouldn't use gloves made of rock against someone calling himself Iron Man." Tony quipped.

The head Dai Li agent stepped forward and said, "You will come with us, now."

"Sorry, pal, not happening." Iron Man said as he took a battle stance as did the Dai Li.

**X X X**

Katara was currently walking the streets of Ba Sing Se trying to cool off after her argument with Sokka. She swore that sometimes she was embarrassed to be related to him.

As she was walking, she started to hear people talking and she saw the couple Than and Ying and her sister along with their newborn baby named Hope that she and the others escorted to Ba Sing Se.

"...I saw someone shoot down the strange flying man dressed in metal..." The sister said to the couple as they were holding their newborn.

This caught Katara's attention and she went to them.

"Katara, is something wrong?" Ying asked out of concern.

"Where did you see the man in metal get shot down?"

The sister pointed toward the west and said, "A few miles that way."

With that said, Katara took off as fast as she could in that direction hoping she wasn't too late.

**X X X**

Iron Man held out both his hands and fired his repulsor blasts at the Dai Li agents but they all scattered before he could hit any of them.

The Dai Li retaliated by sending more rock gloves to beat him down. Iron Man dodged a few but ended up taking a few hard hits to the chest and the head.

"Sir, armor intensity is down to 68%." JARVIS stated.

Before he could get hit by more rock gloves, Iron Man activated his protective force field which surrounded his entire body.

"You cannot resist the Dai Li, you will come with us." The head Dai Li agent said as they continued shooting rock gloves at him.

"No, I need to get home and I won't let you stop me!" Iron Man shouted as he quickly expanded the force field to initiate a surge blast which knocked the Dai Li back. "I didn't come here to cause trouble but if you keep attacking me then I will defend myself."

The Dai Li got back to their feet and started to change their tactics by raising earth spikes to try and puncture his armor, figuring that without it he would be at their mercy. The spikes shot up and smacked Iron Man around, though not puncturing his armor, it did put some dents into it.

Iron Man engaged his repulsor rockets and managed to get off the ground only for two of the Dai Li agents to shoot several chunks of rocks at him which started to do some real damage to the armor as they knocked back down to the ground.

"Sir, armor intensity is now down to 52..." JARVIS informed as Tony interrupted.

"JARVIS, just leave it on the screen and stop telling me!"

Iron Man struggled to get up as the Dai Li closed in on him. "You will come with us now."

"No, you won't take me." Iron Man declared as he got on one knee.

"You are coming with us, dead or alive." The head Dai Li agent said just before a torrent of water knocked him off his feet. Everyone turned and saw Katara with her water she bended from her canteen hovering between her hands.

"Leave him alone!" She shouted as she sent more water at the Dai Li.

One Dai Li agent brought up an rock wall to block the the attack and another sent a pair of rock gloves at her which she evaded before she got hit. Katara looked around and saw that next to the crater that Iron Man made when he crashed was a river. She bended a large amount of water from it toward the Dai Li agent who had shot at her and froze him in a block of ice.

The Dai Li agent who put up the rock wall was about ready to send a chunk of rock at Katara when he got blasted off his feet by Iron Man's repulsor ray. Iron Man got to his feet and stood next to Katara ready to fight.

One Dai Li agent was frozen in ice, another was incompacitated while the remaining two stood ready as the head agent who had first recieved a bath from Katara's first attack got up and said, "Get them!"

Katara bended more water from the water and formed two water whips extending from her hands and whipped at one of the Dai Li agents who blocked by forming rock walls where ever she tried to attack while Iron Man shot repulsor rays at the other one who multi-tasked with forming rock walls and shooting rock chunks at him while trying to evade the repulsor rays.

The head Dai Li agent got to his feet and helped his fellow agents by jumping into the air and landing on the ground which sent an earth quake which the two Dai Li braced themselves for as it knock Iron Man and Katara off their feet.

The head Dai Li agent walked toward the two as the two incapicated agents broke free from the ice and shoot off the repulsor blast.

"Even with your combined efforts, you two are still outnumbered five-to-two. You don't stand a chance against the Dai Li." The head agent said right before he was hit on the head by what appeared to be a boomerang which flew back into the hand of Sokka.

"Then what do you say we even the odds?" The young warrior stated as he pulled out his club sword and took a fighting stance.

The Dai Li agent who had been fending off Katara was about to send a chunk of rock at the Water Tribesman when he felt a strong gust of wind hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground. The agents turned and saw Aang flying in on his glider and land neatly on the ground as Momo circled around them overhead.

The Dai Li agent who had been frozen held out his hands to launch his rock gloves when suddenly his hands started to hit chest and his face. The other agents turned and saw that Toph was apparently bended the rock gloves on his hands as she said with a grin on her face, "Why're you hittin' yourself?"

Iron Man and Katara got back to their feet and the five Dai Li agents found themselves surrounded by the four kids and Iron Man. The Dai Li never backed down from anything but they knew that the five of them alone didn't stand a chance.

"Quick, we must retreat." The had agent said before the Dai Li bended themselves into the ground and vanished.

"Where'd they go?" Iron Man asked.

"They knew they didn't stand a chance against us. They're attempting to escape underground." Toph said as she felt the earth for vibrations.

"That's right, we won! Run you cowards!" Sokka exclaimed enthusiastically.

"How did you guys find us?" Katara asked.

Aang replied, "We went looking for you after you left and Than, Ying and her sister told us you came here looking for Iron Man."

"Those five guys shot me out of the sky while I was flying around. They were trying to arrest me for 'disturbing the peace'." Iron Man explained.

Katara approached him and said, "Iron Man, I understand that you may like working alone but you don't know what this world is like. There's a war going on here and everyone isn't safe until Aang puts an end to it, and we could really use your help."

Tony took a moment to think about his options. The fact that there was a war going on didn't make matters any easier for him and given that he didn't know much about this new world he would undoubtedly get hurt or killed if he tried to do it on his own.

"I guess you're right, I'm better off sticking with you guys until I can find a way back home."

"Okay, now that that's all settled I just gotta ask... who are you behind that armor?" Sokka demanded.

Tony figured this guy wasn't going to accept him unless they knew and given what they did, he felt he could trust them so it couldn't hurt to tell them.

Iron Man's yellow face piece shifted and everyone saw a young man around Sokka's age with short dark hair and a sheepish expression.

"Uh, were you expecting Anakin Skywalker?" Tony quipped.

**X X X**

Meanwhile in a forest a short distance away from the walls of Ba Sing Se, Fire Princess Azula and her friends Mai and Ty-Lee as well as a few Fire Nation Soldiers were currently leading the defeated Kyoshi Warriors to the nearest Fire Nation port to ship them off to a Fire Nation Prison. Just before the their battle with the Kyoshi Warriors they she had seen them aiding the Avatar's Sky Bison. During the ensuing battle, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki, had chased the Sky Bison off before she could capture it and use it to capture the Avatar.

Her plan to use it as bait to capture the Avatar may have been foiled but she had another plan in mind at the moment. As soon as they got the prisoners to a Fire Nation Port, she was planning to take their uniforms and enter Ba Sing Se impersonating as Kyoshi Warriors and slowly take over the city from the inside. Maybe while she's inside, she'll find the Avatar and then capture him.

As they continued walking, a sphere of light shined right in front of them. Once it disappated, both the Kyoshi Warriors and the Fire Nation were amazed by the sight of a man standing tall in a black suit of armor that showed no inch of skin. His very presence sent shivers down the spine of everyone except Azula.

"Who are you?" Azula asked calmly.

"Call me the Mandarin." The man replied in a deep menacing voice.

"I am Azula, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, and as such I demand to know what you are doing here."

"I watched your confrontation with these warriors earlier. I understand your looking for someone known as the Avatar, if I may ask, who is this Avatar that you seek?" The Mandarin asked.

"He a young bald airbender with arrow-head tatoos on his body. Have you seen him?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. He and his friends gave me a bit of trouble when I first arrived in this strange world of yours and it just so happens that they've allied themselves with my enemy, a person known as Iron Man." The Mandarin explained.

"Hmm, who is this Iron Man." Azula asked with intrigue.

"He is scientific genious named Tony Stark who wears a suit of armor that can challenge my own power. He seeks to stop me from achieving my goal to claim the ten Makluan Rings which rightfully belong to me. The sixth ring I've acquired I believe is what brought me and Iron Man here and I need Tony Stark alive to help me figure out how to get back to my own world. I'm here to offer you a deal, you help me defeat and capture Iron Man and in return I'll help you defeat and capture the Avatar."

Azula was intrigued by this new development before her. She finds a man claiming to be from a differnet world with more power than she thought possible and he is offering to help her capture the Avatar. As much as she wanted to capture the Avatar herself, her past failures suggested that she accepted his offer.

"How about a counter offer, I help you defeat and capture this Iron Man person and in return you help defeat and capture the Avatar and you take me to this world of yours."

"You wish to leave your world for another? It is likely you will not return." The Mandarin stated.

"Yeah, Azula," Ty-Lee said with concern for friend. "What if you can't return?"

"I've always been more curious than cautious." Azula responded.

"Let her do what she wants, Ty-Lee," Mai said in a dull tone. "We're not her parents."

The Mandarin extended his hand and said, "Then we have a deal?"

"Deal." Azula said as she took it.

**{Cue Avatar Ending Theme}**

**Author's Note: Two great Nicktoon shows put together in one. You're all probably wondering how Iron Man is going to be in one world and not be able to help his own, I'll get to that in the next chapter. Also Iron Man and Mandarin's presence in the Four Nations will slightly alter events from the original series. Just so you all know, this first chapter took me a while to put up so it'll take time for the next but rest assured that I will update and not let it go without finishing it.**

**Next Chapter: A City of Walls and Secrets**


	2. A City Of Walls And Secrets

**Iron Man Avatar Adventures**

**Chapter 2: A City of Walls and Secrets**

In the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se at the Avatar's Residence...

It was early in the morning the next day when Katara had woken up and found Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man sitting in the den area with his shirt off using the best tools Ba Sing Se had to offer to repair his armor that had been damaged from the fight the day before. He also had the charger connected to his chest piece to keep it as charged as possible.

"How long have you been awake?" Katara asked as she entered.

Tony turned and she notice his eyes were a a bit saggy. "A couple hours now. I thought I'd try to repair my armor before we get attacked unexpectedly again.

"Yeah, what was up with that anyway?"

"They called themselves the Dai Li and said something about me disturbing the peace with my battle against the Mandarin and tried to arrest me by force. I told them I didn't want any trouble but they wouldn't listen so I defended myself."

"Well, its a good thing that we all got there before it was too late. They were really beating you down."

"Yeah, thanks by the way." Tony said as he smiled.

"It was no problem. Given everything that you told us, there was no way we were just gonna left you wonder around in our world without knowing what you're up against." Katara said light-heartedly.

"Yeah, by the way, do you care to tell me what exactly I'm up against and what to expect in this world?"

**X X X**

On the outskirts of Ba Sing Se...

Princess Azula, her girls, the Fire Nation soldiers and her new business partner known as the Mandarin had just arrived at the nearest Fire Nation harbor to drop off the Kyoshi Warriors she and her friends defeated the day before to be taken to the Fire Nation prisons.

She had only just met this Mandarin last night but she had immediately taken an interest in him, especially his ambition.

"Let's hurry up and get these pathetic warriors out of here so we can proceed with our plan." Azula stated to her company.

"Take these ropes off me and we'll see who's pathetic!" The head Kyoshi Warrior, Suki, said loudly as she tried to break free from the soldiers' grip.

"Silence, Kyoshi scum!" The soldier said before he pushed her away.

Azula ignored the commotion and said, "I should bring up our business proposition to Father back home. Someone get me a messenger bird!"

"Why do you need a messenger bird? Why don't we just talk with him directly?" The Mandarin asked.

"Because my father is on the other side of the ocean in the Fire Nation and it'll take days just to get there and right now I have to keep my plans for invading Ba Sing Se intact." Azula explained.

"Well then, how about I teleport us there and we can be back in a flash?" The Mandarin offered as he held out his hand.

"You mean you can teleport us there instantly?"

"Yes."

Azula was hesitant but she took his hand and in an instant a sphere of light surrounded them and they vanished. Ty-Lee seemed upset that her friend going off with this the mysterious Mandarin guy that she hardly even knew, Mai however couldn't care less.

**X X X**

In the heart of the Fire Nation...

Fire Lord Ozai was walking about the main hall thinking about how his daughter Azula was fairing in her quest to recapture her brother Zuko.

Suddenly, a bright sphere of light appeared ten feet in front of him and as soon as it disappated he saw his daughter standing before him along with a tall figure in black armor wearing six rings on his fingers.

"Azula?" Ozai said, slightly baffled.

"Father." She said as she bent down on one knee and bowed her head.

"What are you doing here, how did you get here and who is this man?" Ozai asked a calm yet pompous manner.

Azula stood up and replied, "Father, this is the Mandarin. Mandarin meet my father, Fire Lord Ozai. The Mandarin managed to teleport us both here in an instant with his mysterious power."

"I see." Fire Lord Ozai said flatly.

The Mandarin approached the Fire Lord and said, "Fire Lord Ozai, I have seen your daughter take down several Kyoshi Warriors the day before and I have made her a business proposition that I'm sure you too would find to your liking."

The Fire Lord raised an eyebrow and asked, "What sort of business proposition?"

"You and your daughter are looking for the Avatar and the Avatar has just teamed up with a person of great interest to me. An enemy who must be taken alive if I am to figure out how to return to my homeworld. A boy named Tony Stark but when he's wearing a suit of red and yellow armor he calls himself Iron Man. If you and your daughter were to pull your resources into helping me acquire Tony Stark alive, I will gratefully return the favor in helping you acquire the Avatar so that you may with him however you see fit. Do we have a deal?"

Fire Lord Ozai pondered on the thought of the Avatar being alive and yet his own daughter has yet to capture him and that this stranger from another world who could teleport into his palace from the other side of the world in a flash was offering to help.

"It would seem that we have reached an agreement. I will pull all my resources to help you acquire this Tony Stark alive and you will help my daughter bring me the Avatar, dead or alive." Ozai said as he held out his hand.

"Deal." The Mandarin said as he accepted the Fore Lord's hand.

**X X X**

**{Cue Iron Man: Armored Adventures Theme}**

**X X X**

Back in the Avatar's Residence in Ba Sing Se...

In the last hour, Katara had explained to Tony about how the Four Nations are different countries each based on their respected element and that only the Avatar could master all four elements. As she explained, he started recording everything she told him to send to Rhodey and Pepper to keep them updated. He even asked her to perform some waterbending.

She then explained there was a war going on between the Fire Nation and the other three nations and that only the Avatar could've stopped it but had disappeared a hundred years ago. By that time, everyone else had awoken and joined them as she told him that Aang was the new Avatar.

"Wait, Aang's the Avatar? How's that possible?"

"Well, Aang was born a hundred and twelve years ago and by the time he was twelve the monks discovered him to be the new Avatar but when they tried to send away to be trained..." She stopped there, not wanting say anything to offend Aang.

Aang decided to finish her explaination, "Basically I ran away on Appa, my Flying Bison but we got caught in a storm near the South Pole and we both fell in the water. We were about to drown when I went into the Avatar State and froze me and Appa. Sokka and Katara found us and broke us out after being frozen for a hundred years."

"Whoa, so where is this Flying Bison of yours?" Tony asked, somewhat skeptical about a Flying Bison, which caused Aang to go silent.

Katara decided to speak then, "He was stolen from us when we were in the Spirit Library in the desert. We were told he was taken here to Ba Sing Se where we hope to find him."

"Also we're trying to see the Earth King to inform him of a way we can defeat the Fire Nation." Sokka added.

"And let me guess, you were about to do all that when me and the Mandarin appeared out of thin air?"

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Toph stated.

"Well being that I'm gonna be here a while, I'm gonna have to find a way to blend in. Walking around the Four Nations dressed in my armor or my civvies is bound to attract unwanted attention."

"Then we should get you some Earth Kingdom clothes." Katara said.

**X X X**

Meanwhile in Queens, New York...

Rhodey and Pepper had arrived in the Armory the next morning to see if there an update from Tony.

"This is so cool," Pepper said, "And so not fair. Tony and Gene get teleported to another world and we're stuck here wondering if they've been killed or not!"

"Yeah, worse thing is that we don't know how long they'll be trapped there and I can't keep lying to my mom about it." Rhodey explained.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that Tony and Gene went away for the summer and will only be in touch with the two of us. Its a good thing school's out already."

"Did she buy it?"

"She was skeptical but she accepted it. But what I'm really worried about is what will happen here while Tony's off in another world. Every criminal in New York will be out causing trouble."

Pepper placed her hand under her chin and got and idea. "Well, maybe you can go out and round them up in the War Machine Armor."

"What?" Rhodey said with shock.

"Hey, you handled yourself well the last time you were in it and we don't know when Tony will be back; plus I doubt that the criminals are just gonna wait for him to return so maybe you should handle the crime-fighting until Tony gets back."

"Hmm, I don't know." He said putting his thum and index finger on his chin.

"Come on, Rhodey." Pepper moaned.

"Oh, alright, besides there's no way Tony would forgive me if I just let the criminals take over the city and didn't do anything to stop them."

"Excuse me, Mr. Rhodes, Ms. Potts. There is a message from Mr. Stark." JARVIS annouced from the computer screen.

"Thanks, JARVIS, put it through." Rhodey replied.

A window opened on the computer screen and Rhodey and Pepper listened to Katara's story about the Four Nations, the Avatar, the war and the adventures that her, Sokka, Aang, and Toph had over the past few months up to what led into the arrival of Iron Man and the Mandarin.

"Whoa, this is amazing. There's a whole other world out there that we didn't even know about and they have quite a history."

"Yeah, not to mention they have some cool abilities. To be able to manipulate water as well as other elements is totally awesome! I wonder if we can somehow do that and we just never learned."

"I doubt it, Pepper, but as long as they're willing to help Tony get back here, they're okay in my book." As soon as the video message ended Rhodey said, "JARVIS, how long will it take for us to construct the portal to connect with the other world that Tony is in?"

"Approximately fifty-two days."

"Well, then we better get started."

**X X X**

Back in Ba Sing Se...

Aang, Katara and Sokka were out getting Tony some Earth Kingdom clothing while Toph and Momo stayed behind to keep him company as well as to be on the lookout for any unwanted visitors.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your world like?" Toph asked.

"Well, there are big cities that expand for miles and building the are so high, they can almost touch the clouds."

"Wow, cool!" Toph said delightfully, knowing that Tony wasn't exaggerating even with the Arc device attached to his heart.

Momo chirped as he crawled onto Tony's shirtless shoulder and settled himself.

"Hmm, I take it he likes you." Toph stated.

"Yeah, I can tell. If you don't mind me asking, are you blind?"

"Yeah."

"Then how can you see where you're going?"

"I can feel the vibrations in the ground and basically 'see' with my feet."

"Kind of reminds me of a bat's sonar." Tony commented.

"A what?" Toph asked.

"Oh, nothing. Hey, what if I told you that there was a way that I can make you able to see like normal people?" Tony asked.

"Don't play with me." Toph said defensively.

"No I'm serious. Back in my world there's this special treatment that three-quarters of the time cures blindness." Tony explained.

"Sorry, but I was born blind so I doubt it'll work." She replied with slight sadness.

"Many people who were born blind were still able to be cured. Come on, Toph, haven't you ever once wondered what it would be like to see with your eyes?"

Toph just sat there silently, thinking about what Tony had to offer.

**X X X**

On the other side of Ba Sing Se...

A young teenage boy with a weed stem in his mouth was currently observing another teenage boy with a burn mark on the left side of his face as well as a jolly old man who was with him.

"Jet!" A young female voice called out to him.

He turned and was greeted by a young girl who so disheveled that one would mistake her for a boy as well as a young man who was taller than both of them wearing a hat and bore a straight face.

"Jet, why are you still spying on them?" The girl asked.

"I know for a fact that they're Fire Nation spies, I just need to get evidence." Jet replied.

"Jet, the old man could've just got a new thing of tea that was hotter than the first when you weren't lookin', you're probably just being paranoid."

"Look, Smellerbee, as soon as I have evidence that they're Firebenders, I'll take it to the authorities and let them take it from there."

"And just how are you gonna get the evidence, just waltz right in and ask them if their firebenders?"

"No, I'll try everything I can think of and if all else fails then I'll simply engage them in combat."

"Jet, I thought we were done-."

"We _are_ done, I'll just push them into revealing their Firebending and then I'll stop."

"Well, while you're out trying to prove something that isn't there, I thought we should tell you that Aang and his friends are in the city."

Jet's eyes widened at what she had said, "Aang, Katara and Sokka are here?"

"Yeah, along with a blind earth bender."

"What are they doing here?"

"From what we could tell, It looks like their trying to find their missing bison, but something else happened. Yesterday while we were wondering about, we came upon them when two men dressed in strange armor appeared out of thin air when Aang and his friends showed up."

"Who were these two armored men?" Jet asked.

"One was tall, dressed in black armor and wore six mystical rings that allowed him to unleash all four elements as well as teleport himself from one spot to another. I believe he called himself the Mandarin."

"Seriously?" Jet asked.

Smellerbee nodded.

"What about the other one?"

"The other was dressed in red and gold armor and was able to shoot rays of light from his palms. I believe he called himself Iron Man."

"Iron Man, you say he's wearing red and gold armor and has rays of light shooting out his hands... He could be a Fire Nation spy." Jet said suspiciously.

"I don't think he was, Jet. Sure, he might be wearing colors of the Fire Nation, but everything else about him seemed unlike that of the Fire Nation. When was the last time you saw Firebenders shoot rays on light?"

"Even so, we can't take any chances. Smellerbee, Longshot, you two follow Aang and his friends and see if you can find out anything more about this Iron Man. Let me know if he's a Fire Nation spy or not; see but don't be seen. If he tries anything then make sure he doesn't harm them."

Smellerbee and Longshot nodded. "What about you, Jet?"

"Let me take care of these two first. I'll meet up with you later after I expose them."

"Alright, Jet. Just be careful and don't go causing trouble."

"Don't worry, now get going."

**X X X**

Back at the Avatar's Residence...

Katara was returning with some Earth Kingdom clothes for Tony Stark when she came across a flyer in their residential mail box that caught her interest. She had noticed it as she was leaving earlier but decided to wait until she got back before she looked at it. Katara took it out of the box and opened it only to be taken by surprise.

She ran inside with it and said, "Everyone, I've got it! I know how we're gonna get in to see the Earth King!"

"How are we gonna do that?" Toph asked before mocking their host Joo Dee, "'One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King.'"

"The King is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear." Katara explained as she read the invitation.

"You mean platipus-bear?" Aang clarified.

"No, it just says bear." Katara replied.

"Certainly you mean his pet skunk-bear?" Sokka stated as he laid the clothes he got for Tony down on the table.

"Or his armadillo-bear?" Toph added.

"Gopher-bear?" Aang wondered.

"Just bear." Katara explained.

"This place is weird." Toph said flatly.

"What are you guys talking about, don't tell me you've never heard of a plain ol' bear before?" Tony asked with a confused look on his face.

"Not really." Katara stated.

"Oh, well guessing from what you guys were talking about, I'd say the animals in your world are all chimeras."

"What?" Sokka asked not understanding what Tony had just said.

"A chimera is a few different animals fused together to make one. So when you said skunk-bear, that would mean the fusion of a plain ol' skunk and a plain ol' bear. Back on my world we don't have a skunk-bear, we just have a skunk and a bear."

"So whatever animal we would find in our world would be two separate animals in your world." Katara deduced.

"That's right."

"But if that's the case then how is it that the Earth King has a plain ol' bear here in our world?" Sokka asked.

"Maybe it was by random chance that an ordinary bear was born into this world." Tony guessed.

"That is possible." Aang stated. "And maybe by random chance a fusion animal from our world could've been born into your world."

"Yeah, now that you've mentioned it, there are rumors that people from my world have seen a fusion of two animals yet they could never understand how it was possible."

"Anyways about this party, the palace will be packed so we could sneak in through the crowd." Katara explained.

"Won't work." Toph stated as she fell back to lay down.

"Why not?" Katara asked.

"Well, no offense to you simple country-folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away. You've got no manners."

"Excuuuse me? I've got no manners? You're not exactly lady-fancy-fingers." Katara said with an irritated tone.

_Burp!_ Toph belched before she said, "I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it. You never learned anything and frankly its a little too late."

Just then Sokka got an idea, "Aah, but you learned it, you could teach us!"

"Yeah, I'm mastering every element, how hard can manners be?" Aang said before he placed one of the curtains over his shoulders and said in a gentleman-like tone, " Good evening, Mr, Sokka Water Tribe. Ms. Katara Water Tribe. Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty, your Momo-ness."

Sokka placed another curtain over his shoulders and said in a pompous gentleman's tone, "Avatar Aang, how you do go on."

Aang then bowed and Sokka bowed back and Aang again and Sokka again and then they both bowed at the same time and bonked heads. Tony just sat back and laughed at them.

Toph stood up and said, "Katara might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as bus boys."

"But we feel so fancy." Sokka said with dazed smile.

"But what about Tony?" Katara asked.

"He'd stick out like a sore thumb." Toph replied.

"No I wouldn't. Believe it or not, I'm was actually raised in high society back in my world. My dad owns a multi-billion dollar business making him one of the richest guys on the planet, my planet that is."

"So you're rich?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, how else do you think I got the stuff to build my Iron Man Armor?"

"Scrap metal?" Toph guessed which caused Katara to narrow her eyes at her.

**X X X**

Later that night...

Aang and Sokka were playing a form of rock, paper, scizzors. Aang had won and flicked Sokka in the head for his humiliating defeat.

Suddenly the door opened and before them stood both Katara and Toph, dressed in light yellow kimonos with green stripes on the edge of the sleeves and folds while holding green fans over their lower faces. Their hair was held up in special head dresses and their faces bore make-up. Toph had leaf-green masquera whereas Katara had dark blue along with blush and lipstick.

The two boys looked at their dazzling beauty with stupid looks on their faces which caused the two girls to giggle.

"Wow, you look beautiful." Aang said before he felt Sokka flick him in the head.

Katara was about to say something when Toph placed fan in front of Katara's face and said, "Don't talk to the commoners, Katara. First rule of society."

"Hey, guys!" Tony said as he came out of the room on the opposite side. He was dressed in a fancy dark green kimono shirt with yellow on the edge of the sleeves and fold and black pants along with sandals. He also wore and round cap that was an inch high from the top of his head. "How do I look?"

Aang and Sokka gave him wide smiles and nods of approval while the girls looked at him with hearts in their eyes which told him all he needed to know.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Tony asked.

"Being that your the actual son of a rich man the trick will be making it look as if you're from this world, Katara and I will accompany you as your escorts to help you use your influence to get us in." Toph explained.

"What about us?" Sokka asked.

"We'll get in the party and find a way to get you in through the side gate." Katara replied.

"Well then, ladies, we best get going." Tony said with slickness.

As the three of them walked out the door, Tony placed a hand around each of the girls waists.

"Whoa, he's good." Sokka said as he watched the scene in front of him before Momo walked by him and Aang wearing the curtain over his shoulders looking like he's an emperor. Aang turned to look at Sokka who just shrugged his shoulders 'I don't know'.

**X X X**

On the other side of Ba Sing Se...

Jet was staking out the the local tea shop where the two people he was certain were firebenders were working at.

"Jet, we need to talk!" The voice of Smellerbee called to the teen from behind.

He spun around and saw her and Long Shot walk toward him.

"What, oh great its you guys. Did you find anything on this Iron Man character?"

Smellerbee sighed and said, "Jet, we've been talking and we think you've been becoming obsessed with this. First you think you saw Lee's uncle use firebending and now you suspect one of Aang's new friends of being a Fire Nation spy. Its not healthy."

"Oh really, you both think this?" Jet said as he turned toward Long Shot.

Long Shot placed his hand on Smellerbee's shoulder and Smellerbee said, "We came here to make a fresh start but you won't let this go, even when there is no real proof."

Jet attempted to explain, "Well maybe if you'd help me-."

"Jet, you've gotta stop this. We watched this Iron Man guy all day, who by the way has a real name, Tony Stark. He's a stranger from another world that's different from ours and he happens to need Aang's help in getting back. And Lee and his uncle are just a refugees like everyone else. This has to stop." Smellergbee said sternly.

"Maybe you've forgotten why we had to start over, maybe you've forgotten about how the Fire Nation left us all homeless, how they wiped out all the people we loved." Jet stated to his fellow Freedom Fighters.

A moment had passed and both Smellerbee and Long Shot stood silent.

"If you don't want to help me prove that they're firebenders then I'll get the evidence on my own." With that said, Jet turned and walked toward the Tea Shop and his fellow Freedom Fighters just stood back and watched.

Jet opened the door and said for the whole shop to hear as he pointed his finger at a teenage boy with short hair and a burn mark on his face named Lee and a tubby old man with a jolly look on his face who was Lee's uncle, "I'm tired of waiting. These two men are firebenders!"

The two stood while attempting to not look surprised or guilty as Jet walked in while drawing his two hooked swords and twirling them to strike intimidation. The teenage boy Lee and his uncle looked at each other and then at their accuser.

"I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!" Jett announced.

One of the two officers simply said, "He works at a tea shop."

"He's a firebender, I'm telling you!"

"Drop your swords, boy, nice and easy." The officer said as he and his partner stood up.

Irritated, Jet held his swords up and aimed them at the Lee and his uncle and said, "You'll have to defend yourselves then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do."

The officers were about to draw their weapons when Lee drew a sword and said, "You want a show?" He then split the sword into two swords. "I'll give you a show."

Lee kicked a table at Jet who jumped and sliced it in half before he charged Lee and clashed swords.

**X X X**

At the Earth King's Palace...

Tony, Katara and Toph walked up to the back of the crowd that was slowly decreasing as the guards checked their invitations. By the time the guard had gotten to them, he asked for their invitations.

"Invitations, pal, let me ask you something, do you think a guy like me could get these two lovely ladies and not be a man of great importance?" Tony said as he acted offended.

"No." The guard said flatly.

"Well, I'll have you know that I get invited to all the great parties in Ba Sing Se and never once have I needed an invitation. My father is such an important man that he was involved in this party just as much as the king is and he sent one of his messengers to inform me that the king would be honored to meet his best friend's son."

"And just who might that be?" The guard asked suspisciously.

Tony was a bit stumped and was quickly hoping to get the right answer. And as fate would have it, his prayers were answered when he overheard a man call someone inside Lee Yong.

"Lee Yong." Tony said as he kept a straight face, trying not to look so nervous.

"Oh, well then go right on in, uh, what's your name?"

"To-." He was about to say his first name before Toph cut him off.

"Come on, Tonyo, we're missing the party." Toph said in a whiney yet loving tone.

"Don't worry, beautiful, everything's gonna fine." Tony said while accepting the name she gave him before turned to the guard. "Are we done here?"

"Yes, we're done. Go right on inside, Master Tonyo."

"Thank you my good man." Tony replied.

As the three of the made their way inside Toph smiled and said, "You're real good."

"Thanks, especially for that save back there."

"Not a problem, Tonyo is actually a boy I knew when I was little and given that your name is similar it seemed fitting."

The three entered the palace not knowing someone else who had arrived was eyeing suspiciously. They saw the big table where at one end sat the King's bear who was devouring just about anything he could get his hands on, much to the dismay to the two gentlemen who were sitting next to him.

"Hey Tony, are there parties like this back in your world?" Katara asked softly so only he and Toph could here.

"Yeah, just about." He replied. "Except for having a bear in attendance. People usually don't like animals at parties back home."

The two girls giggled at his witty remark and the three kids wandered through the party to figure out how to sneak Aang and Sokka in. However they soon found themselves being watched by men dressed in outfits similar to the ones the Dai Li wore when they attacked them the day before and decided to act normal for the moment.

**X X X**

Outside the Palace...

Aang was hiding behind a statue with Sokka and Momo keeping an eye out for Tony, Katara or Toph and there was no sign of them.

"Okay, they're in so where are they?" Aang asked.

"Let's forget about them for the moment. I came up with a back-up plan to get us in if something went wrong." Sokka said as he picked up Momo. "We dress Momo up like a ghost, okay? He flies by the guards, creating a distraction. Then we blast a hole in wall and-."

"Or we could just go in with these guys." Aang said as he saw two bus boys carrying stuff into the palace. "Toph said we might pass as bus boys."

Sokka had a pouty look on his face as he said, "Okay, but remember that Momo Ghost plan. I think its a winner."

Aang narrowed his eyes at Sokka before they slunk down behind the statue and crept their way over to the wagon the two bus boys were unloading.

**X X X**

On the other side of Ba Sing Se...

Lee was sent out the window of the Tea Shop and landed on his back but he used the momentum to roll backwards onto his feet and retook his fighting stance.

Jet jumped at him and struck but Lee managed to block the attack and they were face-to-face.

"You must be getting tired of using those swords, why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" Jet taunted his opponent, attempting to get him to use his firebending so he could end the fight and let the authorities deal with him.

"Please, son, you're confused! You don't know what you're doing!" Lee's uncle exclaimed in an attempt to get Jet to stop fighting.

"Bet you wish he could help you out with a little fireblast right now!" Jet said to Lee as he hooked one of his swords to the end of the other and twirled it making its reach extend further but Lee used one of his swords to trap the hook to the ground.

"Your the one who needs help!" Lee stated.

Jet unhooked the one sword from the trapped one and swung at Lee but Lee used his other sword to block it and then took a swing himself. As if time slowed down, Jet tilted backward and just barely missed the blade as it sliced through the weed in his mouth cleanly.

He then stood straight and backflipped onto a stack of boxes.

"You see that? The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It'll never happen!"

Jet then jumped at his opponent and attempted to strike again.

**X X X**

Back at the King's Palace...

Aang was inside pouring some tea into a woman's cup dressed in a bus boy's attire while wearing a large hat that not only concealed his arrowhead tattoo but also concealed Momo whose tail was hanging out the back looking like Aang had braided hair.

As soon as he was done pouring, the woman walked away and Aang stood as Sokka walked by, also dressed in a bus boy's attire and holding a tray of food.

"Where are Tony, Toph and Katara?" Aang asked.

"Forget about them, just keep an eye out for the king." Sokka replied as Momo's tail went up toward Sokka's face.

"I don't know what he looks like."

Sokka said as he grabbed Momo's tail and squeezed it slightly, "You know, royal, flowing robe, fancy jewelery..."

As they looked around Aang said, "It could be anyone."

"Another crab-puff, please." A young and familiar female voice said to them.

They turned and saw Toph standing right next to them.

"You found us." Aang said ecstatically.

"I'd know your little footsteps anywhere, twinkle-toes." Toph replied as she took one of the foods from Sokka's tray.

Tony and Katara came up to them and Sokka said sarcastically, "Thanks for lettin' us in."

"Sorry but we had to blend in. There are men all around here wearing the same clothing as the men who attacked..." She paused so as to be careful as to what she said, "...who attacked Iron Man last night."

Sokka looked around and said, "What guys?"

Tony, Katara and Toph looked around and didn't see the men anywhere.

Suddenly a woman who Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph knew as Joo Dee approached them with a oversized smile on her face along with a terrified look and said, "What are you doing here? You have to leave immediately or we'll be in terrible trouble."

As she tried to rush them out not knowing that Tony was with them, Sokka held the tray up against her palms and said, "Not until we see the king."

"You don't understand, you _must_ go." She said as her eyebrows lowered and she pushed Sokka hard which caused him to knocked into Aang and caused him to spill the tea he was carrying onto a nearby lady who gasp upon getting soaked.

"Sorry, no, don't shout." Aang said before he used his airbending to dry her out which worked but left her clothes and hair pushed back.

Aang simply smiled with embarrassment.

"The Avatar." The lady said with amazement. "Oh, I didn't know the Avatar would be here."

This caught everyone elses attention and they all looked at Aang. Joo Dee's oversized smile turned upside-down in a frown of disappointment.

Aang merely smiled and waved at everyone as Sokka whispered into his ear, "(You keep their attention while we look for the king.)"

With that Aang said, "Watch this everybody!"

He then used his airbending to jumped across the room and land neatly on the center of the big table to perform tricks which amused everyone, including the king's bear, while Sokka, Tony, Toph and Katara split up to look for the king.

**X X X**

On the other side of Ba Sing Se...

Jet and Lee were clashing with one of their two blades given that Lee trapped one of Jet's. They were currently back-to-back swinging from side-to-side in an effort to hit and block each other.

Suddenly, two Dai Li agents moved passed the crowd and said, "Drop your weapons!"

Jet clashed one more time before backing away and saying, "Arrest them, they're firebenders!"

"This poor boy is confused. We're just simple refugees." Lee's uncle said.

"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees." The Tea Shop Owner explained.

"Its true, sir, we saw the whole thing." One of the two officers stated. "This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."

The old man blushed and said, "Ooh, that's very sweet."

The agents walked up to Jet and said, "Come with us, son."

Jet swung his toward the man on his right only the agent to catch it with his left hand that bore a rock glove. The agents used his other hand to grab Jet's arm that held the sword and twisted it, making him drop it while the other agent grabbed his oth arm. They then placed his hands behind his back and pulled hands out of the rock gloves that were clamped together to bind his wrists as they made knew rock gloves form around their hands.

"You don't understand, they're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" Jet yelled as the agents lead him away.

Everyone that watched the scene began to go back to what they were doing as if it never happened. Among the crowd were Smellerbee and Long Shot who walked away disappointed, knowing that this was likely to happen.

As Lee's uncle said quietly as he approached his nephew, "That was close, nephew, too close."

"It wouln't have been that close if you hadn't firebended your tea in the first place, old man. Now he's being punished because of your recklessness." Lee replied bitterly.

"Maybe, but he was even more reckless, trying to start a fight just to expose us. He could've gotten innocent people hurt or worse."

"If he did, it would've been on you. You shouldn't have firebended your tea to begin with." With that said, Lee walked back to the shop as his uncle was left to ponder on what he said.

**X X X**

Meanwhile back at the King's Palace...

As Aang was doing tricks for the crowd, someone rang a gong as a chariot carrying the Earth King was being carried in by his loyal servants. Sokka poked his head above the crowd and saw it as he sneakily made his way over to it.

"Aang, the Earth King." He said to Aang as he pointed at the chariot which had been placed down in the center of the end wall.

Aang stopped performing in front of the bear and saw the Earth King's chariot. He then conjured a wind sphere and rode it across the table toward the Earth King. The people who were eating managed to pick their plates up off the table before the wind sphere blew it all over the place.

Suddenly, the chariot was lifted off the floor and carried away and the men that stood in front of it walked toward the incoming Aang.

Sokka excercised this moment to go after the chariot but was stopped when two Dai Li agents appeared out of nowhere and seized him. "Ugh, let me go!"

In another part of the dining hall, another Dai Li agent shot a pair of rock gloves at the unsuspecting Toph and one clamped her mouth shut as the other pulled her by the waist back toward the agent.

Katara managed to hear her muffled scream and turned her head only for another pair of rock gloves to do the same to her.

Tony had noticed Katara being pulled away and looked around for anyone to try and snuff him, unfortunately he too was taken by surprise and dragged away.

Momo had been hiding under Aang's bus boy hat when another agent picked it up and spotted him.

Aang stopped at the end of the big table and was approached by a man who greeted him, "Avatar, it is a great honor to meet you. I am Long Feng, Grand Secretariet of Ba Sing Se and head of the Dai Li. I'd like to talk to you. Your friends will be waiting for us in the library."

As Long Feng walked off toward the exit, Aang looked at him curiously and then followed.

Everyone was brought into the Library, which was lit by a green flame, with little to no struggle and once the doors were shut, Sokka said demandingly, "Why won't you let us talk to the king? We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!"

"The Earth King has no time to get involved in the poltical squabbles of day-to-day minutia of military activities." Long Feng responded.

"But this could be the most important thing he's ever heard." Aang explained.

"What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters, its my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military." Long Feng explained.

"So basically he's left in the dark while you're calling all the shots." Tony stated.

"Oh, no, no, his majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the owling changes of an endless war."

"But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead and invasion-!" Sokka said before he was cut off.

"Enough! I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war will lead the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined. Our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear. By silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful orderly utopia. The last one on earth."

"You can't just keep the truth from all these people, they have to know." Katara explained.

"That's right, the truth will come out sooner or later." Tony stated.

"That will not happen, Master Tonyo; or is it Iron Man, which do you prefer?" Long Feng emphasized.

"I don't know what you're talking about-."

"Oh, I think you do. I've had the Dai Li keep an eye on you since you've arrived here and I have know intention of letting you out of my sight." Long Feng stated.

"So you've been keeping an eye on me, big deal. Let me tell you something you don't know, I've seen people like you before."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you act all nice of the outside but on the inside you're just ambitious jerk who will do anything to become king of the castle and you don't care about who you hurt or about the consequences; and you know what happened to them?"

Long Feng replied, "Enlighten me."

"I took them all down myself and put them in a jail cell for the rest of their miserable lives and if you think I won't do the same to you and expose you for what you really are, think again."

"That's right and I'll make sure everyone knows the truth about what you're doing." Aang declared.

Long Feng sighed and said, "Until now you've all been treated as our honored guests but from now on you will be watched constantly by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone you will be expelled from the city."

Long Feng then turned his back to then before saying something that caught Aang's attention, "I understand you've been looking for your bison. It would be quite a shame if you were unable to complete your quest."

That last statement caused Aang to back down disdainfully. Tony almost understood what Long Feng meant and he too back down bitterly.

"Now Joo Dee will escort you home." He said as a woman entered the room but it wasn't the same woman who tried to get rid of them earlier.

"Come with me please."

"What happened to Joo Dee?" Katara asked.

"I'm Joo Dee, I'll be your host as long as you are in our wonderful city." The woman said as she bowed to them with an oversized smile on her face.

**X X X**

Meanwhile in a dark secluded location...

Jet was dragged into a dark room by the Dai Li agents who had arrested him and placed him in a chair.

"You have to believe me, they're firebenders! They won't stop until they win the war!" Jet tried to get through to them with futility as they earthbended his head against the back of the chair.

"Calm down, you're safe now." The one Dai Li agent standing in front of Jet said just as a lit lamp attached to a steel rail started moving in a counter-clockwise rotation. "There's no war in Ba Sing Se."

"What are you talking about, where do you think all the refugees come from?" Jet asked bewilderedly, wondering why these people think there's no war going on outside the city. "You can't hide it."

The other Dai Li agent then earthbended a gag around his mouth as the lamp kept rotating, almost as though it were hypnotizing him.

"There is no war within the walls." the Dai Li agent standing before him said in a zombie tone. "Here we are safe. Here we are free."

Just then Jet's eyes were wide open and he was under their control.

* * *

**It took me some time but I managed to get this chapter finished. I've just watched the new season premiere of Iron Man: Armored Adventures Season 2 (which I've been waiting a long time for) and though I will use references and try to lead into the actual Season 2 events, this is basically my own interpretation of it making it an AU.**

**Next Chapter: Tales of Ba Sing Se's Vistors**

**Tales about Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Iron Man, Zuko, Iroh and Momo as they are forced to lived peacefully in Ba Sing Se; knowing that the so-called "peace" is all a lie.**


	3. Tales of Ba Sing Se's Visitors

**Chapter 3: Tales of Ba Sing Se's Visitors**

The Tale of Toph and Katara

It was morning the next day as everybody was up and ready for whatever the day had planned for them. Everybody except Toph that is, who was sleeping in.

Aang was currently shaving his head of even the smallest sign of hair.

Next to him was Sokka with his hair hanging down examining the slight facial hair under his nose before shaving it off and clicking to himself.

Next to him was Tony who also started showing signs of facial hair and asked Sokka, "Hey, mind if I borrow that?"

"Sure thing." Sokka replied as he handed the blade he used to Tony.

He carefully shaved it off and smiled at himself in the mirror as he said, "Much better."

Beside him was Katara who was finishing up her hair loopies. As she fancied herself in the mirror, Momo was to the side licking his paws and started grooming his fur.

Toph meanwhile was laying face first in her bed with her downed hair very disheveled and her body splayed all over.

A bright light shoned in the dark room as Katara opened the door only to be shocked by Toph still sleeping.

"Toph, aren't you gonna get ready for the day?" Katara asked with her eyes narrowed at the lazy Earthbender.

Toph sat up lazily with her eyes barely opened as she spat into the nearby spit can which grossed Katara out. She then stood up and patted a great amount of dirt off her sleepware before saying, "I'm ready."

"You're not gonna wash up? You got a lot of of dirt on your... well, everywhere actually." Katara pointed out.

"You call it dirt, I call it a healthy coating of Earth." Toph responded with pride.

"Hmm, you know what we need? A girl's day out."

"Do I have to?"

"It'll be fun!" Katara said enthusiastically while Toph slumped her head.

**X X X**

Katara and Toph had gone out and arrived at a local spa for women. Katara looked up at the sign brightly while Toph hunched over not very enthusiastic.

Toph made a comment as two lovely ladies left the spa with smiles, "The Fancy Lady Day-Spa? Sounds like my kind of place."

"Are you ready for some serious pampering?" Katara asked.

"Sure, Katara, whatever you say as long as they don't touch my feet."

The two of them walked in and placed in a room dressed in yellow kimonos. Katara was having her feet massaged by a lovely massuese while Toph had two ladies holding her while a third was scrubbing her feet with a rough brush which caused her to grind her teeth in agony. After a moment, one of the girls was Earthbended out of the room rather violently as she hit the opposite wall.

The girls were then moved to the mudbaths. As the towel lady walked over to Toph, the blind Earthbender blew the mud around her mouth and cause it to look like an alien's mouth while she bended the mud around her eyes to make the fruit covering them pop out to look like alien eyes. This caused the lady to scream and run off while Katara and Toph laughed their butts off.

Soon after they were taken to the sauna dressed in towels as they sat around the heat source. As the steam was dying down, Toph stomped her foot which caused one of the rocks to shoot up and onto the burning rocks before Katara bended the water from the pale next to her onto the rocks causing the renewed steam the fill the room resulting in the girls sighing with bliss.

Moments later the two girls left the spa, Toph looked less sloppy than she did earlier with her hair pulled back to reveal her blind eyes which had masquera as well as her eyelashes done along with blush on her cheeks while Katara had her cheeks blushed and her eyelashes done and masquera on.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. I'm not usually into that stuff but I actually feel... girly." Toph said.

Katara smiled and said, "I'm glad, its about time we did something fun together."

The two girls were walking over a stone bridge when three other girls walked by them.

"Wow, great make-up..." One girl said.

"Thanks." Toph replied.

"...For a clown!" The girl said before she and her friends laughed.

This caused Toph to express sadness and disappointment but made sure they didn't see it.

"Don't listen to them..." Katara said to her. "...Let's just keep walking."

"I think she looks cute..." One of the other girls said. "...Like that time we put a sweater on your pet poodle-monkey."

"Good one, Star" The third girl said as they continued laughing.

"Let's go, Toph."

"No, no, that was a good one. With your poodle-monkey..." Toph said as she laughed. "...You know what else is a good one?"

Toph stomped her foot and caused a perfect circle to form around the three girls before it gave way and dropped them into the river.

They looked up through the hole and saw Katara smile as she said, "Now _that_ was funny." She then waterbended a wave whiched sent the three girls down the river way screaming.

Katara caught up to Toph and said, "Those girls don't know what they're talking about."

"It's okay, the good thing about being blind is that I don't have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I know who I am."

"That's what I really like about you, Toph. You're so strong and confident inside. I'm sure it doesn't matter but you're really pretty."

"I am?" Toph asked.

"Yeah, you are."

As the two walked on Toph replied, "I'd return the compliment but I have no idea what you look like."

They both laughed as they continued on about their day.

"Thank you, Katara." Toph said before punching Katara's arm causing her to rub the pain away. "By the way, I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Yesterday when you guys went to find Earth Kingdom clothing for Tony, he said something that's been stuck in my head ever since."

"What did he say?" Katara asked out of concern.

"He said that his world has the necessary means and tech-no-lodgy or whatever to cure my blindness even though I was born with it and that I would be able to see like everyone else."

This caused Katara's eyes to open wide in astonishment. "Really, that's great... isn't it?"

"Honestly, I've always wondered what the world looked like through normal eyes, but the truth is that I'm afraid that if I do agree to it and it's successful I won't be able to use my earthbending to see when danger is coming. I'm afraid that with my eyes I'll lose my ability to see through my feet."

Katara listened to her concern and said, "Toph, I don't think you'll lose your gift. Its a part of you no matter what and I don't think gaining your eyesight will take that away from you."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

This made Toph smile and say, "Thank you, Katara. Now that I think about it, I might be able to return the compliment from earlier when the time comes."

Both girls continued back to their residence laughing.

**X X X**

The Tale of Iroh

It was mid-day in Ba Sing Se as former Fire Nation General Iroh made his way through the city streets dressed in a green Earth Kingdom attire and a straw hat looking for a picnic basket.

He happened upon a shop on his left saw the one he was looking for. He walked over and touched it to feel the material when the clerk said, "If this is for a romantic picnic, may I suggest this lavender one."

Iroh smiled and said as he pulled a small round piece of gold with a small square hole in the center, "No, its not a romantic picnic; but it is a special occasion."

Iroh paid for the basket and turned back down the street where he came from and stopped when he noticed lone flower in a white vase draping down in the sunlight.

Iroh moved the vase with the flower into the shade and said, "The Moonflower likes partial shade." In an instant, the flower started to blossom.

Iroh turned back to the clerk and bowed to him before leaving.

He had made his way toward an instrument stand where he was hoping to buy a banjo when he heard a little boy crying behind him and his mother tried and failed to calm him down.

Iroh smiled for after he purchased the banjo he wanted he started playing as he approached the boy and sang, _"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow, like fragile tiny shell, drifting in the foam, little soldier boy, come marching home, brave soldier boy, comes marching home."_

The little boy smiled as he went toward Iroh and tugged on his long gray beard which made him yelp in pain. This caused the boy to laugh and Iroh couldn't help but to smile.

The mother smiled as she led her boy off and Iroh continued to smile knowing that he helped cheer the little boy up.

As he continued on he noticed a couple of kids in an alleyway playing earthball.

The kids kicked and bended the earth to try and get it into the opposing teams goal to score, unfortunately the ball shot into Iroh's direction and he ducked causing it to fly into someone's window.

"HEY!" Someone yelled.

As the kids got nervous Iroh went over to them and said, "It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur and to seek to restore honor."

They then heard tremendous footsteps and when they looked through the window, they saw someone's firm gut before he bent down and revealed his angry face.

"When I'm through with you kids, the window won't be the only thing that's broken!" The big guy bellowed.

"...But not this time." Iroh muttered before he yelled, "RUN!"

The kids and Iroh ran off in different directions like terrified rabbits as they saught to get as far away as possible.

Iroh came upon another alleyway where he hid and waited to hear if anyone was coming after him.

Fortunately, nobody was after him and he let out a sigh of relief before he heard heard someone say, "You..." Iroh turned and saw a young man holding a knife at him. "...Give me all your money."

Iroh looked at the young man and noticed he was standing stupidly and said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm mugging you!" The young man said.

"With that stance?" Iroh pointed out.

The young man looked bewildered and said, "Wha-what are you talking about? Just give me your money, old man!"

Iroh shook his head and said, "With a poor stance you are unbalanced and you can be easily knocked over."

Iroh then swiftly knocked the young man's front crooked foot forward and grabbed the knife with right hand before knocking him down with his left hand.

Iroh twirled the knife western style and then held his hand out to help the young man up. The young man accepted and got up as Iroh said, "With a solid stance..." Iroh squated. "...You are a much more serious threat." The young man immitated Iroh's squating stance and the former general stood up to help positionhim right before he said, "Much better, but to tell you the truth you do not look like the criminal type."

The young man replied as he lowered his head in shame, "I know, I'm-I'm just confused."

Iroh placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and the two were soon sitting down in the alleyway drinking tea.

"So you really think I could be a good masseur?" The young man asked.

"Of course." Iroh replied.

"This is so great, no one has ever believed in me." The young man said as he smiled.

"While I always believe that it is good to believe in one's self, a little help from others can be a great blessing."

The two finished their tea and went their separate ways both proud of what had transpired.

**X X X**

Later at sunset, Iroh went to the top of a grassy hill at the edge of the outer interior of the city where a tree stood alone as the leaves fell. Iroh put down his basket and took off his hat before he walked up to the tree and placed a few stones, a clothe, some fruit, a sack carrying something and two lit sticks in a stand in front of the tree.

"Happy birthday, son..." Iroh said as his eyes started to tear. "...I-If only I could've helped you." As tears started to streak down his cheeks he started singing, _"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow, like fragile tiny shells, drifting in the foam, little soldier b-boy, _(sob), _come marching ho-ome, _(sob), _brave soldier boy, comes marching home._

In honor of Mako.

**X X X**

**{Cue Iron Man Armored Adventures Theme}**

**X X X**

The Tale of Aang

Aang was soaring through the sky on his wind glider over Ba Sing Se as he tried to look for Appa. Since Katara and Toph were having a girls day out, Sokka was doing his own thing, Tony was upgrading his armor and Momo was doing... whatever he was doing; he decided to go look on his own without having anyone to slow him down or get in his way.

He flew down toward an area where he saw variety of animals and used his airbending to land neatly.

He walked around and saw a bunch of different animals locked in cages looking sad and depressed. Aang couldn't help but to feel sorry for them.

He approached an armadillo-tiger who was knawwing on the steel bars and said as he held out his hand to pet him, "Hey there, fella. You look hungry-."

Aang was cut off when the animal roared at him which caused him to jump back as the animal wrapped up into a ball.

Aang calmed down as a man swept the ground behind him and said, "Hm, they _are_ hungry."

Aang looked at him and saw the look of a depressed man.

As the two walked around the zoo the man explained, "The Dai Li won't give me any money because the kids stopped coming and the kids won't because my zoo's nasty and broke."

Aang looked to his right and asked, "What kind of animal is that?"

"Oh, that's a rabbaroo." The Zoo Keeper said as the looked at the white and brown animal that was a cross between a rabbit and a Kangaroo. "I wish I could get her a big open prairie like she likes and let her hop her way to happiness."

It was then that Aang got an idea, "Let's do it."

The Zoo Keeper looked at Aang and said, "Say again?"

"There's a big open space right outside the walls of the city."

"And how are you gonna transport all these wild critters?" The Zoo Keeper asked.

"Don't worry, I'm great with animals." Aang said confidently.

**X X X**

Moments later all the animals were loose and out of control.

The Hog-Monkeys were breaking plates and vases while swinging from chandeliers as a citizen tried to scare them off with the swing of a broom.

The Eleboon a cross between an elephant and a baboon was charging through the streets causing people to run and dive out of the way to safety.

The Dragon-Birds were pecking at peoples heads, the platipus-bear was chasing after some people.

The armadillo-tiger was running wild.

The rabbaroo was eating cabbage at a cabbage stand which caused the Cabbage Man to try and fail at keeping the animal from eating them all and yell, "My cab-!" He was cut off when the rabbaroo looked him in the eye and snapped the cabbage head in it's mouth. "Oh, forget it!" He said as he walked away and tossed one of the cabbage heads in his hand away.

Aang landed on a rooftop overlooking the Dragon-Birds pecking at people's heads and jumped down and airbended the animals away from the people.

As the people ran to safety Aang scratched his scalp as he said, "This was so much easier in my head."

Aang then heard a roaring sound behind and turned to see Tony dressed in his Iron Man armor flying toward him.

"Hey, Aang, need some help?" Iron Man asked.

"With the way these animals are acting, I could use some." Aang said before he turned and saw the Eleboon charging toward some helpless people and said, "Quick stop that Eleboon before someone gets hurt!"

"I'm on it!" He said before he flew off after the rampaging animal.

Aang then looked at the other animals and started to wonder how he was going to get them all under control. He then got another idea as snapped his fingers and he pulled out his white and brown Bison-shaped Whistle.

He tossed the trinket into the air, bended as much air he could inhale, caught the whistle and blew all the air through it causing a sonic shockwave to spread throughout the area all the animals were in. The moment they heard it, they stopped running wild and ran off toward the source.

All the animals found the source and Aang led them in one big group toward the the edge of the city.

**X X X**

At the outer wall, the Zoo Keeper was talking with two soldiers. "But you have to open this gate!"

"Or what?" One of the guards said.

"Or that!" The Zoo Keeper said as he pointed toward the direction where Aang and the large group of animals were charging from.

The second guard yelled, "OPEN THE GATE!"

The two guards ran in opposite directions and the Zoo Keeper turned to see the gates open.

As soon as the gate was wide open, the animals went through and ran everywhare until Aang headed them off and used his earthbending to form a rock wall around the area and the elevate and de-elevate the landscape to form a zoo which caused both the people and the guards to exit the city to see it for themselves.

Aang and the Zoo Keeper looked down at the Rabbaroo as she took a sip of water before looking up at them with her three babies popping out of her patch. She then hopped away as Aang said, "So, Mr. Zoo Keeper, how do you like your new facilities?"

"Excellant job, Avatar, you should think about working with animals for a living."

Aang smiled until he heard a boy say to his mother, "Mom, Ms. Snowflake got out of the house again."

Inside one of the animal areas, was a small cat hissing at the huge Eleboon.

"Fluffy-kins, what are you doing down there?" A little girl asked her pet.

"On second thought, you should probably stick to saving people." The Zoo Keeper said which caused to laugh nervously as he wiped his scalp.

"Y-Yeah, a friend of mine happens to be good at that too." Aang replied.

**X X X**

The Tale of Iron Man

Tony Stark was in the residence in which he and his new friends resided. As Katara and Toph went out by themselves again, Aang went looking for Appa, Sokka went wandering through the town and Momo was to his knowledge rummaging for food; Tony was currently repairing and upgrading his armor.

As he was fine-tuning the hydraulics he recieved a message from Rhodey and Pepper and put his helmet on to watch it.

Rhodey and Pepper appeared in the Armory as there was construction work going on behind them involving the robotic arms and claws he built.

_"Hey, Tony, we just wanted to let you know that we got started on the portal you requested and it should be done on our end in about fifty-one days."_ Rhodey said.

_"We also wanted to let you know that since your gonna be off in another world for a while, Rhodey will be filling in for you as War Machine while your gone."_ Pepper added.

"What?" Tony said in disbelief.

_"I know it may not be the best idea, Tony, but the criminals will likely take advantage once they realize you're gone and since I've already got the hang of the War Machine Armor I might as well use it to fill in for you until you get back. Also I got those schematics you asked for in your last message and I attached it to this message so you could build a satelite to communicate back to earth via live feed. And don't worry about my mom. I told her you and Gene were off on a trip somewhere and would only be communicating with me and Pepper which she bought despite being skeptical about it. Take care, man."_ Rhodey explained.

_"Oh, and don't forget to send more info on the new world your in-!"_ Pepper attempted to say before Rhodey ended the transmission.

Tony sighed and said, "I hope you guys know what you're doing."

He then pulled up the image of of the schematics for the satelite he thought about building to communicate with back to earth. He was a little hesitant in building advanced technology for a primitive world but he figured that if he could fly it into space before anyone knew what he was doing, nobody would be able to get their hands on it.

As soon as he pulled them all up, he got a piece of paper and an ink brush and started sketching them out.

It was based on the SHIELD satelite he had seen once when he was flying up to the telescope to stop the Living Laser only he would be adding his own features to it, for intance he would make it out of the gold titanium alloy on his armor and for fun add a little hot-rod red.

By the time he was done sketching, he decided to get started on both building the satelite and building the portal to get back home but he remembered what Long Fang said to him the day before. About how the Dai Li will be watching his every move and report it to Long Fang.

He started to wonder how he was going to do build the stuff he needs without the Dai Li noticing.

That's when he got an idea.

**X X X**

Later in the day, Katara and Toph had returned from there trip and Tony stood up and said, "Hey, Toph, can I talk to you alone for moment?"

"Sure thing." She said as she followed Tony into another part of the house leaving Katara curious as to why Tony was so secretive.

Once they were alone, Tony spoke to Toph about an interesting plan which she was delighted to take part in. He asked her to sneakily earthbend a hole in the floor of the residence east hallway and bend an underground secret area for him to work in.

Toph spat in her palms and mushed them together before she stomped her foot to create a stairwell in the floor of the hall on the right side of the residence leading to the kitchen area and a few bedrooms.

Once the stairwell was formed to go twenty steps down, Toph then used both her hands and feet to bend apart some of the earth to make a wide open space.

Katara had heard a lot of rumbling and wondered what Tony and Toph were doing. She decided to look for them and see what they were doing when she saw a set of stairs in the floor that she hadn't seen before. She followed them down and saw Tony and Toph standing next to each other with their arms crossing their chests at a job well done.

"What are you two doing?" Katara asked.

The two turned and looked at her before Tony said, "Trust me, Katara, this isn't the worst thing you've caught us doing."

Toph laughed out loud as Katara stood a little dumbfounded by his remark before she persisted in saying, "That doesn't answer my question; what are you two doing?"

"Well, remember when I told you guys that I have an armory back home underneath a wearhouse?" Tony reminded her which caused her to nod.

"And remember when Long Feng said that the Dai Li were going to be keeping an eye on me as long as I was here?" Katara nodded again.

"Well, I thought it would be best if, with a little help from Toph, that I have an armory here under the residence so I can do my things in secret without them knowing and in case they should go snooping around while we're away, Toph built a special pressure mechanism that if doesn't reckognize any of us it will cause a cave-in to hide any evidence of the armory's existence and once we return Toph merely has to bend the place back up and it'll be as good as new." Tony explained.

"Wow, that's an amazing idea." Katara said.

Toph then sensed something and said, "Hey guys, I'm picking up a lot of vibrations. Not here, in the outer city, it feels like a lot of wild animals are running loose."

"I'll go check it out then." Tony said as he ran up the stairs.

The two girls followed and found Tony in the living room putting on his Iron Man armor.

"You want us to come with you?" Katara asked.

"No thanks, its probably nothing anyway but if I need you I'll holler loud enough so Toph can feel it." Tony replied.

As soon as he was set, he ran out the front door and blasted off into the sky.

**X X X**

Aang landed on a rooftop overlooking a flock of Dragon-Birds pecking at people's heads and jumped down and airbended the animals away from the people.

As the people ran to safety Aang scratched his scalp as he said, "This was so much easier in my head."

Aang then heard a roaring sound behind and turned to see Tony dressed in his Iron Man armor flying toward him.

"Hey, Aang, need some help?" Iron Man asked.

"With the way these animals are acting, I could use some." Aang said before he turned and saw the Eleboon charging toward some helpless people and said, "Quick stop that Eleboon before someone gets hurt!"

"I'm on it!" He said before he flew off after the rampaging animal.

**X X X**

Iron Man flew after the Eleboon that was stampeding through the city streets close to squashing several people.

"JARVIS, give me an idea as to what is making the Eleboon tick." Tony asked his computer.

"My statistical analysis indicates that the animal known as an Eleboon is suffering from immediate post-prandial upper abdominal distension, sir." JARVIS replied.

"Okay, I'm a scientific genius and even I couldn't understand what you just said." Tony commented.

"In other words, sir, cramps." JARVIS elaborated.

"Oh, well then, let's see if we can remedy that; shall we?"

Iron Man flew and landed on the Eleboon's back to try and ride it but he ended up wrapping arms around its wide neck as he had a hard time staying on. As he grasped harder, the Eleboon got more wild and swung its hind legs upward and flung Iron Man off causing him to crash to ground before he could activate his repulsors.

As sat up slowly Iron Man muttered, "Okay, when I get back home, I'm definately taking rodeo lessons."

As he got back up to his feet, Iron Man saw the Eleboon charging off toward one of the columns that held the earthbending monorail tracks. Iron Man then looked to his right and saw an oncoming monorail.

"Oh, no." Iron Man said to himself. "If that thing hits the column it could take the track out from right under them; I've gotta stop it."

He then engaged his repulsors and flew on after the large animal as it kept up with its stampede. He landed on its back again and this time held a tighter grip as he tried to steer the animal away from the column.

As this was happening, former Fire Nation General Iroh and his nephew former Prince Zuko were walking through the streets. Iroh seemed to be happy while Zuko bore his usual annoyed face.

"Uncle, I'd like to go back to the tea shop now if you don't mind." Zuko stated.

"What ever for, Zuko?" Iroh asked.

"Because I'm bored and I'm tired of you endlessly wandering around shopping." Zuko muttered.

"Be patient, my nephew, when you least expect it, excitement is just around the corner."

As Iroh said this they felt the earth shake loudly and they soon saw a large Eleboon with a man dressed in strange red and yellow armor on top of it. The two looked somewhat bewildered by the situation.

Iron Man had gotten onto the animal's neck and tried to steer it by tugging its ears and managed make halt it's feet but given the momentum, the sudden stop make it skid until it collided with the column causing a huge chunk to shatter. The column still stood but with the hole it would likely give away once the monorail arrived.

On cue the monorail reached the weak column and the track immediately gave away. The citizens nearby ran for cover as the column fell but as Zuko and Iroh were running, Iroh tripped over a chunk of rock and Zuko was too far to reach him.

As the column crumbled in the fall, the monorail flew off the track and was about to crash right where Iroh had fallen.

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled helplessly as he watched his uncle about to get flattened by the monorail with the people onboard screaming in fear.

As the shadow of the monorail covered Iroh, he closed his eyes tightly as he accepted his demise when suddenly he heard a clanking sound. He opened his eyes and saw the man in red and yellow armor inches away from him strongly holding the monorail over his head.

"Go, now!" Iron Man yelled and the old man complied as he rushed out from underneath the monorail shadow and hurried to Zuko's side.

Iron Man slowly dropped one end of the monorail and made his way out to edge before he let it fall to the ground. He then walked up to one of the windows and asked, "Is everyone alright in here?"

Those that had regained their composure and ignored their strange savior nodded and confirmed that nobody was injured. Tony sighed in relief under his helmet.

He then walked over to Iroh and Zuko who were a bit nervous as he approached them. As he approached them, he noticed that the one boy had a burn mark on the left side of his face and wandered how he got it.

"You okay, sir." Iron Man asked.

"Yes, thank you for saving my life. I feared I would've been killed if you hadn't been here." Iroh said back.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that."

"Thanks for saving my uncle's life, um..." Zuko said as he eyed the strange armored warrior with suspiscion.

"The name's Iron Man and I was glad to be of help." Iron Man replied as Tony wondered why the boy didn't take his eyes off him even for a second.

Suddenly whatever the three of them wanted to say next was cut short when the nearby crowd started cheering and swarmed around Iron Man.

"We saw you when you first showed up and didn't know if you were good or not, but now we know!"

"You're a real hero!"

"Which nation do you come from?"

"What is your name?"

Everyone said as they cheered him for his heroics.

"Thank you everyone, I appreciate it. I am Iron Man and I'm just doing my best to make the world safer for everyone." Iron Man said back modestly.

A moment later he felt a strange shockwave and then heard a strange sonic noise that momentarily disrupted his systems before he saw the Eleboon get to its feet and take off.

"Uh, if you'll all excuse me, I better round up that animal before someone else gets hurt."

He took as the crowd continued cheering. Zuko and Iroh watched him and Iroh said, "I think I'd like to go back to the tea shop."

Zuko simply rolled his eyes as the walked off, his mind focused on this Iron Man person they had just encountered.

**X X X**

From the shadows, someone else had been watching the scene, a young Dai Li agent who had been given his first real assignment before completing his training at headquarters.

His assignment: Survey the one named Tony Stark aka Iron Man and report any and all activity to Long Feng.

After the incident that just happened and given that Iron Man had flown off somewhere so fast that he could catch up, he decided to head for the palace.

As he quickly used his earthbending to burrow under ground through the city, he soon made it to the palace and made his way to Long Feng's chambers.

He knocked on the door three times and heard the voice of Long Feng say, "Come!"

He opened the door an entered while closing it behind him.

"Report?" Long Feng inquired.

"S-Sir, so far the one named Tony Stark or Iron Man has been communicating with his strange instruments to a couple of unknown individuals at long distance, p-possibly friends of his back from his homeworld."

"Interesting, so he secretly hopes to plan either an escape or an invasion. Anything else?"

"Y-Yes, he was recently involved with an incident where the Avatar was trying to relocate the zoo animals and the animals started running wild in the city streets. H-He was chasing an E-Eleboon which crashed into a column holding up the monorail track and caused the monorail to crash, s-sir."

"That is most unpleasant...for him." Long Feng stated.

"A-Actually, sir, he managed to save everyone. There were no casualties and injuries were little to none. Everyone was cheering him, calling him a hero, s-sir." The young Dai Li agent said hesitantly as to not upset his superior.

Long Feng looked unamused by both the nervous young recruit and by what he had just told him.

"W-Would you like me to continue keeping an eye on him, s-sir?"

"Yes, don't let him out of your sight and report everything he says, does or even thinks. Now go." Long Feng said as he dimissed the young Dai Li agent.

"Y-Yes, sir." The young agent said as he took his leave.

In his mind, the young agent knew he had neglected to mention Tony Stark secretly building something with the help of the blind earthbending girl but after what he had witnessed Iron Man do and the way Long Feng had been making him spy on the hero, he started to wonder who the real enemy was in all of this.

All his life he had wanted to become a Dai Li agent and when he was old enough to join, he learned some things that made the Dai Li not all they were cracked up to be. Things that made him sick to his stomach though he tried not to show it. He was lucky they didn't hypnotize him and turn him into a puppet like some of them were.

He wondered if he was on the right side or not.

**X X X**

The Tale of Sokka

Late at night, Sokka was walking through the city streets throwing his boomerang and catching it when he came upon a small building. He saw a group of men with a carriage-pulling animal loading stuff until he heard something in the building he was walking by and saw a large group of girls through an open window.

"What's this?" He asked himself.

He stuck his head through the window and heard them saying Haikus.

"...Through all the long night, winter moon glows with bright love, fleeting for silver tears." The one girl spoke.

Sokka sighed and smiled as he watched them dreamingly and said, "Poetry."

Not paying attention, carriage-pulling animal got feisty and kicked Sokka causing him to grunt in pain as the girls saw him half-way through the window.

"I-I'm so sorry." Sokka said as he pulled himself inside. "Something struck me in the rear. I just...wound up...here?" He said as he got up realizing that what he said had rhymed.

The girls then started laughing and giggling.

At first he was dumbfounded but then smiled at making them laugh.

One girl however stood up and clapped but looked unimpressed.

"Five, seven then five syllables more make a haiku, remarkable oaf."

Sokka at first was irritated by her remark but then smirked as he said while counting his number of words, "They call me Sokka, that is in the Water Tribe, I am not an oaf."

The girls continued giggling.

"Tittering monkey, though he climbs treetops, then thinks himself tall." The unimpressed girl said back.

This caused the girls to go, "Ooooohhh."

"You think you're so smart, with your fancy little words, this is not so hard." Sokka said back as he crossed his arms.

The girls "Oooohhh"ed even louder at his comeback.

"Many seasons are spent mastering the form of the sky, none should call it easy."

"I calls it easy, like I paddle my canue, I'll paddle yours too." Sokka said as he smacked his backside.

The girls laughed at this.

"There's nuts and there's fruit, in fall the clean one drops, always waiting to be squashed." The unimpressed girl, now getting irritated, said back as she took out a grapefruit from under her sleeve, dropped it and then stepped on it.

Sokka looked unimpressed and said, "Squish squash swing that slang, I'm always right back at ya, like my boomerang."

The girls laughed more as he pulled out his beloved boomerang.

The unimpressed girl had nothing left and simply walked off the stage and Sokka bowed to his fans.

"That's right, I'm Sokka, its spelled with an okka, young ladies I rocked ya!" Sokka gloated.

The girls looked at him silently annoyed as crickets chirped in the background.

Sokka then counted the number of words he used and a bulky hand with a three-clawed glove grabbed him by the collar and the owner said, "Eh, that's one too many syllables there, bub."

The bouncer-type man with the clawed glove then hauled Sokka and threw him out the front door.

Landing on his backside, Sokka looked back and said sulkingly as he put his fist under his chin, "Poetry." He then stood up and starting walking back home as he said to himself, "I wonder if Tony can show me how to pick up girls? He seemed to know what he was doing with Toph and Katara at the King's Party." He continued on home with a big smile on his face as to how great he would be if he had Tony's swagger.

**X X X**

The Tale of Zuko

At the tea shop in the outer city where Iroh and Zuko resided, the former Fire Nation Prince looked behind himself before walking over to his uncle and said, "Uncle, we have a problem." His uncle listened as he stepped down from the stool after putting something away. "One of the customers is onto us. Don't look now but there's this girl over there at the corner table. She knows we're Fire Nation."

Iroh turned his head and got a good look at her before Zuko pulled him away.

"Didn't I say not to look!" He said quietly.

"You're right, Zuko, I've seen that girl in here quite a lot. Seems to me she has quite the little crush on you." Iroh replied with a big smile on his face.

"What!" Zuko said in complete disbelief.

"Thank you for the tea." The heard the voice from said girl behind them as she had quickly arrived the counter and paid them. "What's your name?" the girl asked Zuko.

Zuko turned toward her and said, "My name's Lee, my uncle and I just moved here."

"Hi, Lee, my name's Jin. Thank you and, well, I was wondering if you would like to go out some time?" The girl said.

"He'd love to." Iroh said still with a big smile on his face.

"Great, I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown."

As she took her leave, Iroh placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder still smile while his nephew looked at him, clearly irritated.

**X X X**

Later that night, Zuko stepped outside dressed in a nifty-looking suit and his hair was greased smoothly. He wasn't liking this idea one bit.

As he waited, Jin stepped out from an alley between the shop and another building with a smile on her face.

"Hey." She said to get his attention as she approached him. "Well, look at you. You look so cute."

She moved her hand through his hair and inadvertently messed it up.

"It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair." Zuko said as he tried to fix it.

She then took his arm and the walked through the town to the nearest restaurant. They found seats and ordered their food when Jin decided to make conversation.

"So, how do you like the city so far?" She asked Zuko as he fiddled with his meatball.

"It's okay." He replied.

After taking a sip to drink Jin asked, "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Nothing." He replied just the waiter approached.

"Excuse me, would you and your girlfriend like desert?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Zuko shouted as he slammed his fist against the table.

This made the waiter walk away as Zuko regained his composure.

Zuko then looked at Jin to see her slurp up her bowl of pasta.

"You...have quite an appetite for a girl." He said.

"Um, thanks?" She said unsure if it was a compliment or not. "So, Lee, where were you and your uncle living before you came here?"

"Um, well, we've been traveling around for a long time."

"Oh, why were you traveling so much?"

"We were, uh, part of this traveling circus." He fibbed.

"Really? What did you do? No, wait, let me guess...you juggled?" She asked.

"Yeah, I juggled."

"I've always wanted to learn how to juggle, can you show me something?" She asked as she held out several bottles and bowls.

Feeling he needed to, Zuko took them and started to juggle only for them all to fall to the floor and on top of him.

"I haven't practiced for a while." He said lamely.

"It's alright. So have you heard about this Iron Man person who's been flying around the city?" Jin asked.

"Actually, he saved my uncle earlier from a falling monorail." Zuko replied.

"Really? That's great, he's so cool, you know?"

"Yeah, cool."

"Hey, I want to show you one of my favorite places in the city."

**X X X**

"I'm so excited to see the firelight fountain. It makes the water sparkle in the most beautiful way." Jin said as she led Zuko down the darkened street.

When they arrived they saw a fountain but no lights.

"Oh no, they aren't lit." She said disappointed.

Zuko could see how sad she was and immediately got an idea, but first he had to make sure she didn't see what he was planning to do.

"Close your eyes and don't peek." He told her.

Clearly she was curious as to his request but she decided to do what he said.

Once he knew she had her eyes shut, he stepped forward and took a deep breath before he quietly shot small fire shots at all the lamp posts with swift speed.

"Okay, now you can look." He said to her.

She lowered her hands and saw the area lit up and was clearly happy.

"Oh wow, what happened? How did they light? What did you-?" She asked.

All he could do was smile at her happiness and despite her curiosity she smiled back as she took his hand.

She then moved closer to him when Zuko held up a piece of paper and said, "I brought you something. It's a coupon for a free cup of tea."

She smiled as she accepted it and said, "Lee, this is so sweet."

"Don't thank me, it was my uncle's idea. He thinks you're our most valuble customer." He said modestly.

"Your uncle is a good teacher. I have something for you too, now it's your turn to close your eyes." She said.

After doing so, he felt her lips against his and they shared a kiss before he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's complicated. I have to go." He said before he left.

He went back home to his uncle who greeted him, "How was your night, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko merely went into his room and slammed the door shut.

Iroh sighed and went back to trimming his plants when Zuko opened the door slightly and murmured, "It was nice."

Iroh then smiled.

**X X X**

The Tale of Momo

Momo was dreaming of himself on top of Appa who was flying to the world's highest tree where the flying lemur flew to a branch and snagged to berries. He ate one while he tossed the other to Appa who opened his mouth and swallowed it.

Suddenly Appa moved in toward the lemur and opened his mouth wide like he was gonna eat him.

Momo woke up slightly startled as he jumped into Sokka's Earth Kingdom bag. He regained his bearings when he peeked his head out and realized that it was just a dream.

He then found a stray piece of hair in his face and as he tried to brush it away he found that it wasn't his, upon sniffing it he learned that it was Appa's.

He then saw a shadow outside resembling the long lost Sky Bison and he wrapped the strand of hair around his front right paw before he took off after the shadow.

He climbed up a tree and saw that the shadow came from a rain cloud that was soon going to rain upon the city later.

Momo then saw a puff of white fluff and horns behind one of the buildings ahead of him. Momo flew ahead to find that it was a tree with white leaves and the horns were branches.

As more rain clouds shrouded thed sky, Momo flew through the city streets determined to find the missing bison. He descended onto a barrel full of water to take a drink when his tail accidentally knocked over a stick which aroused the attention of three panther-cats that were growling and snarling at him.

The panther-cats chased Momo into a box where they tried clawing at him through the small holes but the lemur escaped through an extra hole that the panther-cats hadn't covered and he immediately took to the sky.

Unfortunately the panther-cats ran along the awnings and rooftops and swatted him down to the ground forcing him to run into a crowd full of people.

The panther-cats calmed themselves as they searched for their prey.

Momo was snagged by a man who placed green animal hat on his head and set him on the ground between two monkeys before he began to play some music.

As the monkeys danced, Momo decided to join in so as to not disappoint anyone.

Unfortunately the panther-cats found him and broke up the act as the chase continued.

The panther-cats jumped up and gripped Momo's lower body and he began to fall to the ground before he crashed and burned.

The panther-cats surrounded him ready to pounch when a net fell on top of all of them and dragged them away.

**X X X**

Momo was placed in a cage with a skull pin locking the door as he and the panther-cats in their own cage were loaded onto a wagon and carted to what appeared to be a butcher shop with a roaring fire.

Momo watched their captor converse with the butcher in their human language which to the lemur sounded like gibberish.

Not wasting any time, Momo used his smarts and thumbed paws to pull the pin of the cage door and opened it. He was about to make his escape when he turned and saw the sad expressions of the three panther-cats.

Though they had tried to eat him, or whatever, he knew they didn't deserve what was in store for them and knowing what his human friends would do, Momo went up and opened their cages too.

When the animal catcher and the butcher came out to look at the animals, they saw only empty cages as Momo and the panther-cats fled across the rooftops.

**X X X**

As the clouds started to rumble for the upcoming rainstorm, Momo sat on top of one of the highest rooftops in Ba Sing Se with the three panther-cats that were thanking him by rubbing their cheeks against his.

Suddenly one of the panther-cats grabbed the strand of Appa's hair tied around Momo's paw with its mouth and untied it.

The panther-cats then ran off as Momo pursued them.

It looked as though the panther-cats were stealing the strand of hair he was holding onto but in fact they were leading Momo somewhere, probably to Appa!

Momo flew after them and found the panther-cats stand around a huge hole in the ground as the one who took the strand of hair placed it down in the hole before they stepped away.

As Momo got closer he soon realized that it wasn't an ordinary hole, it was a paw print. A familiar paw print that belonged to Appa.

Momo looked at the panther-cats and they nodded to signify that he was here. The lemur the curled up in the middle of the print as it began to rain.

Momo then heard a familiar roaring sound and he and the panther-cats looked up into the sky to see Iron Man.

Though Momo couldn't quite understand him, he had guessed that he said something like, "There you are, Momo, we've been getting worried about you."

Momo then got up and ran around the print while chattering, telling him to come down.

Iron Man landed and said, "What's gotten into you?"

Momo chattered as he handed the strand of hair belonging to Appa to him and pointed at the paw print.

Iron Man may not have been able to understand his language but from what he was handing him and the giant paw print he was laying in just a moment ago, he could tell that the lemur was trying to show him something important.

"JARVIS, analyze the hair Momo just gave me." Tony said inside his armor.

He looked at the strand as a circular bar surrounded it and began to fill up and as the scan completed JARVIS responded, "Scanners indicate that the strand of hair belongs to an animal closely related to that of a bison, sir."

"A bison? Aang said that he was missing a bison and that's one of the reason's why they came to Ba Sing Se." Tony figured out before he looked at the paw print. "JARVIS, scan the print in the ground. Tell me if it matches that of a large bison."

Tony waited impatiently as the new circular bar filled up while the rain pounded against the exterior of his armor.

"The print, though enormous, does in fact resemble that of a bison, sir." JARVIS responded.

"So Aang's bison, Appa, was here." Tony deduced.

"It would appear so, sir."

* * *

**This Chapter took quite a while but I managed to get it done. I know there are some out there who wonder when the story will change drastically but please understand that I am just laying the ground work, showing where the Avatar story events go from Canon to AU. The real changes will start in the next chapter and then will continue on throughout the story.**

**Author's Note - When I saw Sokka's Tale, the bouncer guy seriously reminded me of the X-Men's Wolverine so I figured I'd add the three-clawed glove as a slight easter egg by having him be the Avatar version of the Marvel character. Let me know if anyone would like to see a continuation of that.**

**Next Chapter: The Mysterious Lake Laogai**

**After learning that Appa is in fact in Ba Sing Se, Aang and his friends decide to search for him and they run into Jet who seems different than before.**


	4. The Mysterious Lake Laogai

**Chapter 4: The Mysterious Lake Laogai**

In the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se at the Avatar's Residence...

It was late night and raining when Tony returned to the residence and told everyone what Momo had found.

"Appa's here in the city." Tony finished.

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"Momo kept a strand of Appa's hair. My computer systems keep a record of lots of things from my world, though in my world bison's don't fly, yet the strand is fairly similar and the paw print is identical despite its immense size. Its definately Appa's." Tony explained.

"Please take me to where you found the print." Aang asked.

"Sure thing, follow me."

**X X X**

As Tony flew in his Mark I armor and Aang on his air glider, Toph used her earthbending to make an earth wave that Sokka and Katara rode on as they reached the spot where Momo and the panther-cats waited.

As they landed, Aang approached the paw print and knelt down to put his hand on it.

"Its Appa's, he was here."

"But he could be anywhere by now." Sokka stated.

"I did a scan on the print before the rain started to affect the area, this print couldn't have been made more than twenty-four hours ago." Tony said.

Sokka was a bit bewildered. "Huh?"

"I meant that it was made sometime last night." Tony clarified.

"Oh."

"So he was here last night, where could he have gone?" Katara asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, but I can tell you _who_ took him." Toph stated.

"How?" Aang asked.

"The earth was shirfted in a way that he was pulled underground, like he was pulled into a trap. It was shifted in a manner similar to the way the earth was shifted when the Dai Li fled from us when we overpowered them a few days ago."

"The Dai Li?" Katara said, surprized by this revelation.

"Uh-huh." Toph acknowledged.

"So the Dai Li have Appa..." Sokka deduced.

"...And that means that Long Feng is holding him prisoner. He lied to us, he didn't have Appa until last night." Aang said, clearly upset.

"No surprise there given that he's forcing the entire city to lie about the war despite the many refugees that come here." Toph remarked.

Katara bended the rain off of them and formed a water barrier to keep the rest of the rain off of them. "Well, clearly Appa's no longer here, so let's just head back to the house and figure out what to do next."

Tony nodded, "She's right, Aang. At the very least I found this paw print and showed it to you but we have no way of knowing where they took him after last night."

"Exactly, I can't even tell which direction the went in. There are many underground tunnels so I can't tell which one they took." Toph added.

Aang sighed and decided it was best that they return to the house. Momo turned to his Panther-cat friends and chirped a farewell to them, but the the animals said in their own language that they would like to accompany him and his friends.

Aang and the others looked at the lemur and the Panther-cats in slight bewilderment when Tony said, "Uh, I think Momo's new friends want to tag along."

**X X X**

**{Cue Iron Man Armored Adventures Theme}**

**X X X**

The next day...

Sokka was laying on his chest on the floor of the residence as he tried to paint a picture of Appa while Toph laid on her back trying to entertain herself while Momo licked her feet. Tony sat to the side with a mini custom-built laptop connected to his armor where he was currently typing information about the strange world he was in while petting the three panther-cats that Momo had befriended.

Suddenly Aang and Katara can rushing in.

"We found a printer who can make our posters!" Katara said as she held up a poster that showed a perfect picture of Appa.

"Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my idea. I've been working all day on my Appa." Sokka complained as he held up a painted picture of a not-so-perfect Appa.

"Sokka, the arrow is supposed to be on Appa's head." Aang pointed out as Katara tried to stifle her laughter.

"This _is_ his head." Sokka stated as Katara approached to get a better look.

"Why are feet coming out of it?" She asked.

"Those are his horns." Sokka said as he drooped over. "Look, I haven't seen him in a while, okay."

"It looks just like him to me." Toph said with a smile.

"Thank you, I worked really-." Sokka stopped praising his hard work when he realized that she was messing with him. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

"Let's just stick with the professional version." Katara said, resulting in a frustrated Sokka tearing up his poster.

"What are you guys up to?" Tony asked as he not in on what they were talking about.

"We're heading out to put up posters hoping to find Appa." Katara explained. "We figure that even if the Dai Li have him, somebody must've seen them take him so we made posters of Appa to find out if anyone's seen him."

"But you said that you asked around before I came along."

"Yeah, but we had Joo Dee hovering over our shoulders, assuming of course that even is her real name." Katara responded suspisciously.

Tony explained in a thorough manner, "I've actually been thinking about that and I figured something out. It seems that both the Joo Dee who first hounded you guys and the Joo Dee who escorted us home after the party go by the same name and yet they don't know anything about each other and they're always smiling in a rather creepy manner."

"Really? I couldn't tell." Toph said sarcastically.

"Bottom line, I think that both ladies are being brainwashed somehow." Tony concluded.

Katara then asked, "How is that possible?"

"Well, I happen to know what its like to be brainwashed or to be with someone who was brainwashed. There was this guy back in my world known as the Controller who uses control discs to brainwash people into doing his bidding. From what I've been able to gather, both Joo Dee's portayed the mannerisms of a person who was brainwashed and I think Long Feng is behind it."

"Tony's right, I sensed that there was something off about this Joo Dee since we first met her when we came to Ba Sing Se and the one at the party was acting very weird." Toph pointed out.

"Well, now that we know this, we'll just have to make sure we don't run into either of them while we try to find Appa." Sokka stated.

"Come on, let's get busy!" Aang said enthusiastically as he grabbed two handfulls of posters.

Everyone nodded and Tony grabbed his backpack that secretly housed his Mark I armor before they set out to find Appa.

**X X X**

In the Outer Ring where Zuko and Iroh work...

Zuko as Lee and Iroh as Mushi were serving tea to their customers when a man in fancy robes and expensive jewelry stood up and said to Iroh, "So you're the genius behind this incredible brew. The whole city is buzzing about you. I hope Pao pays you well."

Iroh smiled and said back, "Good tea is its own reward."

"But it doesn't have to be its only reward." The man explained. "How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

This took Iroh by surprise as he said, "My own tea shop? This is a dream come true."

"What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my own tea maker?" Pao the tea shop owner said nervously as he approached them.

The man smiled in response, "Sorry, Pao, that's business for ya; am I right?"

"Mushi, if you stay I'll make you assistant manager, wait senior assistant manager." Pao tried to negotiate with Iroh.

"I'll provide you with a new apartment in the upper ring, the tea shop is yours to do whatever you want, complete creative freedom." The man offered as Zuko overheard the conversation.

"I even get to name the shop?" Iroh asked.

"Of course."

"Uh, senior executive assistant manager?" Pao tried harder to persuade his employee to stay.

Iroh hand his tray to Pao and bowed to the man to accept his offer, causing Pao to moan in defeat.

Iroh then turned to Zuko and said, "Did you here, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city."

"That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better."

Zuko replied as he placed his tray on the nearby table while walking to the door leading outside, "I'll try to contain my joy."

Outside he leaned against the wall, not wanting to be bothered, when a piece of paper floating down from the sky which he caught and was surprised as to what was drawn on it.

The Avatar's bison.

He immediately looked up and saw nothing so he decided to climb onto the roof and looked around to see multiple sheets of paper with the same drawing falling across the other streets.

He then knew that the Avatar was in the city...and he was looking for his bison.

Perfect.

**X X X**

Back at the Avatar Residence...

Sokka and Katara were sitting at the table in the living room playing a tile game while Toph played around with a ball to keep from getting bored. Tony sat and watched Sokka and Katara play their game with intrigue.

"Tell me, what exactly are you guys playing?" He asked.

Katara replied, "Its called 'Four Nations' due the four nations of our world."

"How do you play?"

Sokka responded this time. "Basically, each player selects five tiles from a pool of tiles currently available."

"It kinda reminds me of dominos."

"And you would be right except the numbers are replaced by two of the symbols of the four nations, or a special black Avatar tile which acts as a wildcard. The goal of the game is to be the first player to use all five tiles in the pool by laying one of the tiles diagonally adjacent to a matching symbol already played. Some tiles have two matching symbols known as a 'double' and if laid the player can choose whether or not to place another tile. The game is won either if a player uses all their tiles or if the opposing player can't place a matching tile." Sokka explained in full detail.

"Interesting." Tony commented.

"Later on we'll teach you how to play Pai Sho." Katara said as she placed a tile down.

"I look forward to it." Tony replied.

The door opened and Aang walked in.

"I just dropped off all the leaflettes. Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"

"Its only been a day, just be patient." Katara replied.

Aang slumped and then sat down next to Tony to watch the game between Sokka and Katara.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Wow, you were right. Patience really pays off." Aang said in delight as he went to open the door.

He opened it to find Joo Dee standing at the door, the first Joo Dee.

"Joo Dee?" Aang said surprised.

"Hello Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Tony." She said rather calmly with her unnatural smile on her face.

"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked.

"What, jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage." Joo Doo replied while acting like they were talking nonsense.

"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party." Toph pointed out.

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai out in the country. It was quite relaxing."

"But then they replaced with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee." Katara explained.

"I'm Joo Dee." Joo Dee said.

"Rrright." Tony said sarcastically.

"Why are you here?" Aang asked.

Joo Dee pulled out one of Aang's posters and said, "Dropping flyers and putting up posters is forbidden in the city, not without proper clearance."

"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka said annoyed.

"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."

Aang was now fuming as he yelled, "We don't care about the rules and we're asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own and you can just stay out of our way!"

Aang was about to slam the door close on her when Tony said, "Hold up, Aang, I got some I wanna try out."

Aang calmed down enough to hear Tony and move aside when Tony brought up his armored right hand and aimed it at Joo Dee.

"Wh-What are you doing?" She asked timidly.

Suddenly he blasted her with a pulse wave that affected her brain and in seconds Joo Dee was on the floor sobbing in tears.

"What the-." Sokka said bewildered.

"What did you do?" Katara said slightly upset.

"I used a psionic blast on her. After my last encounter with the Controller I built it to break any form of hypnosis. Anything she was forced to forget, she'll remember." Tony explained as he lowered his arm.

"Then why is she crying?" Sokka asked.

"Apparently whatever the Dai Li did to her has left her emotionally scarred. All the memories she was forced to forget flooded back all at once thus leaving her in an extremely emotional state."

They stood around the sobbing Joo Dee until she calmed down and said, "I...I remember...how could I have done such horrible things?"

"It wasn't your fault, you were hypnotised." Katara said, trying to help her out.

"But that doesn't change what I did." She replied.

"If you really want to make it up to us, you'll tell us where Long Feng is holding Appa." Aang said with a determined look.

"I...I don't know where he is. I never saw him." She replied.

"Joo Dee, please-." Katara said before she was cut off.

"Stop calling me that...my name is...Miako."

"Miako, its important that you help us. Tell us what you know."

"Long Feng wanted me to keep an eye on you all, to make sure that you did not speak with the Earth King nor disrupt Ba Sing Se by mentioning the war. He wanted me to keep you from knowing the truth." The Joo Dee known as Miako explained.

"What truth?" Toph asked.

"The fact that he is trying to usurp the Earth King."

"I knew it, that slimeball is trying to sieze the Earth Kingdom just like Stane siezed my dad's company." Tony stated. "By the way, Sokka, you owe me five gold pieces."

Sokka grumbled as he took out his money and handed it to Stark. When they were discussing earlier as to what Long Feng was planning, Sokka bet Tony that Long Feng was planning on brainwashing everyone into thinking that there is no war so all the lovely ladies would worship him and become his harem girls. Apparently Tony thought he was out to assume control for power and now Tony was five Four Nation gold pieces richer.

"What does this have to do with him holding Appa?" Aang asked.

"I don't know where your bison is, Long Feng was searching for him as well as you to try and use him as leverage against you." Miako replied.

"Why?"

"Because you're the Avatar and that means that you are the only one who could oppose him. Then there is your new friend..." She replied as she turned to Tony.

"Me?" Tony said bewildered.

"You are Iron Man, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am Iron Man."

"Then you know that your unexpected presence in this world could also hinder his plans."

"That's right, I said that I would take him down and I meant it."

"Uh, that might come back to bite us in the blubber." Sokka stated.

"I don't care. From now on we're doing whatever it takes to find Appa, even if we have to go through Long Feng and Dai Li." Aang declared defiantly.

"Yeah, let's break some rules!" Toph said enthusiastically before she sent an earth blast to the east wall and shattered it.

"Come with us, Miako, you might be able to help us find Appa." Tony said as extended his hand to her.

"But if the Dai Li learned that I am with you they may learn that I have betrayed them and punish me." Miako explained.

"Don't worry, as long as you stick with us no one will ever hurt you again."

Miako looked Tony in the eye and could tell that he was sincere so she took his hand and accompanied Team Avatar as they journeyed out to find Appa.

Unbeknownst to them, several Dai Li agents hid on a roof top overlooking the Avatar's Residence as they watched what had happened. They were surprised to see Joo Dee walking them despite them busting a hole in the wall and figured that something must've went wrong.

They then retreated as they went to find Long Feng and report the situation.

**X X X**

"What happened?" Long Feng asked.

"There was a commotion when Joo Dee entered the residence and after they blasted a hole in the wall, she accompanied them as they went looking for the Avatar's bison." One of the Dai Li agents spoke.

"That is very strange, the Avatar and his friends are getting suspiscious and yet they allowed Joo Dee to accompany them. They must've gotten to her and managed to break our control over her, she never could handle her job despite having taken it of her own free will."

Long Feng deduced as he stood up and stared at his fireplace that burned with green flames.

"If the Avatar keeps searching for his bison, it could upset the delicate balance we have worked so hard to achieve in this city. It could even cost us control of the Earth King." Long Feng stated.

"Should we take care of him?" The Dai Li agent asked.

"No, its much too dangerous for us to confront him directly. Let's see if we can still handle this...quietly."

"Sir, we suspect that if they managed to break Joo Dee from our control, they may be more difficult to deal with."

"Indeed, it seems that our hypnosis techniques are not as strong as that of the kind our associate uses. Bring her to me at once." Long Feng ordered.

"Yes, sir." The Dai Li agents said as they left the room.

"I still have one last trick up my sleeve..." Long Feng said to himself.

**X X X**

At the Outer Ring of the city, Zuko entered the room he and his uncle were staying in to find him packing as they prepared to move out. His uncle was going on about his name for the tea shop until Zuko interupted him.

Zuko showed him the sheet of paper with a picture of Appa on it and said, "The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison."

Iroh took the sheet of paper and looked it over before he said, "We have a chance to make a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."

"Good things that are happening for _you_. Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There's nothing wrong with life of peace and prosperity. I suggest that you think about what it is you want for your life and why."

"I want my destiny."

"What that means is up to you." Iroh said as Zuko left before he continued thinking names for his tea shop. "The Tea Weemo...no, that's stupid."

**X X X**

Team Avatar was currently wandering the streets of Ba Sing Se pasting posters with pictures of Appa on the walls, though Miako stood back and watched nervously in fear of the consequences of there actions.

"We'll split up to cover more areas." Sokka stated. "Toph, I guess you should just come with me."

"Why, because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" She said annoyed as she swiped a poster and the paste brush swuished the paste on the wall and stuck the poster to it. After a moment of silence she said, "Its upside down, isn't it?"

"Actually, its on backwards." Tony pointed out.

"Not helping, Tony." Katara said to him.

_'Oh, great, now I'm starting to sound like Pepper.'_ Tony thought as he kept mouth shut.

"I'll just go with Sokka." Toph said sullenly.

As they went off in seperate directions, Aang was joined by Momo and his three panther-cat friends and Katara went on her own while Tony stuck with Miako.

Tony took out his mini-laptop from his backpack and typed something down when Miako asked, "What is that strange device?"

"Its called a computer, like the human brain its a device that stores information. I'm writing a note to myself to teach Toph how to read while blind." Tony explained.

"Is that possible?"

"Yeah, actually, in my world blind people have to read through brail which is holes punched through paper or slight indentations designed to form letters and symbols. My friend Rhodey's mom is a lawyer and a friend of hers at her law firm is blind, he taught me brail in case I should ever meet a blind person to help them out."

"That was rather nice of him."

Meanwhile where Katara was she had just put up a poster near a playground area when she heard a familiar voice call out behind her.

"Katara?"

She turned and was surprised to see Jet.

"I think I can help you." He said with charming smile on his face.

Katara began to grow very angry and the sight of him and immediately she summoned a huge wave of water and sent it at him.

"Katara, I've changed!" He let out before he was swept down an alley.

Katara followed up by forming a sphere of water.

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet."

As she solidified the sphere, she shattered it as she launched it toward Jet. He pulled out his hook swords and tried to block them but was pushed back to the wall.

"I don't want to fight you, I'm here to help." He tried to explain as he dropped his swords to signify that he surrendered.

Katara was taken back by this but when she saw him move his right hand toward his back pocket she sent more ice shards at him and pinned him to the wall.

Moments later the others found them and Sokka said, "Katara, what is it?"

She simply said, "Jet's back."

"Who is this guy?" Tony asked.

Katara explained, "Someone who gave us trouble a while back. We can't trust anything he says."

"But we don't even know why he's here." Sokka stated.

"I don't care why he's here, whatever the reason is it can't be good." Katara said as she started fuming.

"I'm here to help you find Appa." Jet stated as he opened up his right hand to unroll a piece of paper with Appa's picture on it.

This surprised everyone especially Aang. Even though Jet tried to kill him and ton of innocent people as well as toyed with Katara during their last encounter, he knew that the Freedom Fighter might be of some help to them.

"Katara, we have to give him a chance." Aang said to Katara.

"I swear, I've changed. I was troubled person and I let my anger get out of control but I don't even have the gang now, I've put all that behind me." Jet tried to reason with them.

"You're lying." Katara declared.

Toph then walked up and placed her hand against the wall to feel vibrations when she said, "He's _not_ lying."

"How can you tell?" Sokka asked.

Toph explained, "I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."

"That's true, I've read about that back in my world." Tony stated.

Aang then turned to Katara and said, "Katara, we don't have any leads. If Jet says that he can take us to Appa then we have to check it out."

"Alright." She said before turning to Jet and pointing a finger at him to show that she was watching him in a comically paranoid manner, "But we're not letting you out of our sight."

After they removed the ice shards, Jet led the group to a empty barn and said as he led them inside, "This is the place I heard about."

They entered to find nobody there nor any sign of Appa.

"There's nothing here." Aang said with a hint of disappointment.

"If this is a trap-!" Katara said as she prepared to bend some water from her pouch.

"I told you, I work nearby. Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had, I figured it must be Appa." Jet explained.

"He was here!" Toph said as she found a strand of his fur and handed it to Aang.

"We missed him." An upset Aang said saddly.

"They took that big thing yesterday." An elderly man sweeping the barn said to them. "Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur and various...leavings all day."

"What island, where's Appa?" Aang said eagerly.

"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whale-Tail Island bought him up. I guess for a zoo or such."

"That doesn't seem right." Miako stated. "Long Feng wouldn't have sold your bison, he would be holding him prisoner somewhere."

"Like where?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, there are many places Long Feng could hold him, but I assure you that he would not have sold him to someone on Whale-Tail Island."

"Are you calling me a liar, young lady?" The elderly man stated.

"Be quiet, old man." Jet said. "Who is this lady?"

"Her name is Miako, but while she was being hypnotised by Long Feng she went by Joo Dee and was trying to keep us from finding Appa." Tony explained.

"Then what is she doing here?"

"I managed to snap her out of it and now she's helping us."

"Where could he be holding Appa." Aang asked.

"I truly am I sorry, Avatar Aang. I wish could help but all I remember is overhearing that Long Feng only recently acquired your bison and wanted to use him as leverage but I never learned where he was kept."

"Then let's keep searching, who knows, we might just get lucky." Aang stated.

As they prepared to leave the barn Jet said, "I'll come with you."

"We don't need your help." Katara said bitterly.

"Why won't you trust me?" He asked her before walking off with Aang, Sokka, Momo and the panther-cats.

"Gee, I wonder." Katara said sarcastically.

"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked plainly as Tony and Miako stood by wondering the same thing.

"What, no!" Katara said defensively.

Toph grinned from ear-to-ear as she said in a merrily manner, "I can tell you're lying."

Katara then had the good sense to run after the others.

"I'm thinking she just had a crush on this guy." Tony stated.

"That would explain why she blushes despite her hostility toward him." Miako added.

As they all walked down one of the streets trying to find Appa, two familiar characters rounded the corner they passed and one called out, "Jet!"

Jet stopped and everyone saw Smellerbee and Long Shot running toward them.

"I thought you said you didn't have your gang any more." Katara said angrily.

"I don't." He said as Smellerbee hugged him.

She then said, "We were so worried; how did you get away from the Dai Li?"

"The Dai Li?" Katara said bewildered

"I don't know what she's talking about." Jet stated.

"You got arrested by the Dai Li a couple of weeks ago, we saw them drag him away." Smellerbee explained.

"Why would I be arrested?" Jet asked. "I've been living peacefully in the city."

Toph bent down to the ground to feel the vibrations and said, "This doesn't make any sense, they're both telling the truth."

"That's impossible." Katara said, clearly as confused as everyone else.

"No, its not." Sokka stated. "Toph can't tell who's lying because they both think they're telling the truth. Jet's been brainwashed."

In that instant, Team Avatar immediately understood what was going on as Jet started to panic.

"That's crazy...it can't be...stay away from me!" He said as he tried to get away only for everyone to circle around him to prevent him from escaping.

**X X X**

In another part of town, the young Dai Li agent who was tasked with keeping an eye on Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man had lost him along with the Avatar and his friends and was now wandering the city streets trying to locate them.

He then heard footsteps from behind and he was pushed aside as the person who knocked into him said, "Out of my way, skinny."

The young Dai Li agent saw a young man dressed in a dark blue and black garb wearing a strange blue mask run around a corner into an alley.

The young agent knew he wasn't supposed to let someone treat a Dai Li agent with such disrespect and, for the moment, chose to abandon his purpose and go after the scoundrel.

He ran after him around the corner to find him standing down the alley staring at him.

Reacting quickly he launched his earth gloves at the scoundrel which punch a whole through the chest and knocked the head clean off to reveal that it was a stuffed dummy.

"Huh?" He let out before he felt a blade come up under his chin.

The owner leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "(If you don't wanna end up like him, do what I say."

Fear of being killed by the masked stranger, the young Dai Li agent nodded nervously.

**X X X**

Back at the residence where Smellerbee and Long Shot were staying at, Momo and the panther-cats sat outside on balcony to keep an eye out for unwanted guests while everyone else stood around Jet who was sitting down while enduring the multiple stink-eyes.

"The Dai Li must've sent Jet to mislead us and that janitor was part of their plot too." Katara explained.

"Which means that Appa is still in the city. Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet." Aang deduced before he asked Jet. "Where did they take you?"

"Nowhere, I-I don't know what you're talking about." Jet said defensively despite what they were saying made his story seem false.

"We need to get him to remember his real memories." Aang stated. "Tony, can you use that psionic blast on him like you did with Miako?"

"Sure thing, though I'm afraid that he might react the same way Miako did." Tony replied.

"Its the only way to get him to remember, we have no other choice." Katara explained.

"What are you guys talking about?" Smellerbee asked.

"This is a psionic blast that will make him remember any supressed memories, erasing his hypnosis, but the side-effect of the all the flooded memories might make him curl into a fetal position." Tony explained.

Smellerbee looked to Long Shot who nodded and then she said, "Do it."

Tony aimed his right armored hand at Jet which made him flinch and he sent the psionic blast at the Freedom Fighter causing memories he was forced to forget to resurface.

"I remember now, I was arrested because I discovered Firebenders in the city and yet nobody believed me..."

"What Firebenders?" Katara asked.

"Just some kid with a burn mark on his face and his uncle." Smellerbee explained which caused Aang, Katara and Sokka to panic.

"Zuko and his uncle are in the city?" Katara let out.

"You know them?" Jet asked.

"Zuko is the banished Fire Nation Prince who's been hunting us for months trying to capture Aang." Katara explained.

"So they _are_ Firebenders, you were telling the truth, Jet." Smellerbee acknowledge while feeling guilty for not believing him sooner.

"We'll worry about Zuko later, right now we need to find Appa." Aang stated.

"Right, where did the Dai Li take you away to, Jet." Smellerbee asked.

"They took me to a secret headquarters under the water, like a lake."

"Hey, Miako, didn't you say that you took a vacation to Lake Laogai?"

"Yes." She immediately.

Jet stood up and said, "That's it, Lake Laogai."

**X X X**

As Jet and Miako had led everyone to the shore of Lake Laogai, everyone had their weapons and gear ready while Tony armored up into Iron Man.

"Hey, I remember Smellerbee mentioned you, you're Iron Man, right?" Jet asked him.

"Last time I checked." He replied.

"Funny, with that red armor I thought you might've been a Fire Nation spy, but you definately don't look it." Jet stated.

"That's because I'm not from this world."

"You'll have to tell me about it when this is over."

"If we survive, that is."

They arrived at Lake Laogai and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Sooo, where's this secret entrance?" Sokka asked.

"Under the water I believe." Jet replied.

"The Dai Li are required to Earthbend the entrance from the bottom of the lake in order to travel down to the secret headquarters." Miako explained.

Toph immediately slammed her feet against the earth and bended the path to the secret entrance up to ground level. They then walked toward the hatch and opened it the reveal a ladder going down a dark shaft.

They climbed down the ladder and descended some stairs that led to a green-lit corridor with multiple passages.

Aang held his staff tight while Jet drew out his hook swords, Sokka held onto his boomerang and Katara readied her pounce containing water while Toph stood straight and Tony clenched his armored fists as Smellerbee took out a dagger and Long Shot readied his bow and an arrow. Miako, Momo and the three panther-cats remained near the ladder so they wouldn't get hurt in case they ran into trouble as well as to guard the entrance.

Everyone crouched at the stairway ready for a surprise attack as two Dai Li agents conversed while heading down on of the passage ways.

Jet signaled that they were gone and they slowly tip-toed out of the hiding spot down the corridor being on they lookout for any signs of an ambush or a wandering Dai Li that might catch sight of them.

"(Its all starting to come back to me.)" Jet whispered as he leaned against a door cracked open to reveal a man and several women who were all dressed like Miako.

"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se." The man said.

"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se." The girls repeated in a trance-like state.

"We're so lucky to have walls to create order." The man cited.

"We're so lucky to have walls to create order." The girls repeated.

As they all passed room full of brainwashed girls, Maiko cringed at the sight of it and whispered, "(Some of those girls were my friends. If I had known that this was the condition of working for the Dai Li, I would never have joined.)"

"(Don't worry, as soon as we rescue Appa we'll find a way to stop Long Feng and free everyone from their hypnosis.)" Sokka stated quietly.

Maiko hoped they would be able to or else she would endure horrible punishment for having been freed of her hypnosis and willingly helping the Avatar.

"(There might be a cell big enough to hold Appa in up ahead.)" Jet whispered as he led them to a sealed door. "(I think its through here.)"

**X X X**

In a cell underneath Lake Laogai, Appa laid on the cold ground in shackles waiting for the right moment where he could break free and escape.

The flying bison had endured a lot in the following weeks; having been captured by greedy sandbenders and sold to a Fire Nation Circus where he was treated poorly until a young boy who reminded him of Aang set him free only for him to encounter angry farmers and wild animals as he searched for food and shelter.

He had been fortunate when he was discovered more recently by Suki and her band of Kyoshi Warriors who treated his wounds and gave him food and water before they were attacked by the Fire Nation Princess Azula and her friends Mai and Ty-Lee. Appa wanted to stay and help them but Suki knew that if he was captured they would use him to capture Aang so she forced him away by waving a flaming branch at him. Though he felt betrayed by her actions, he could tell she was sorry when he glimpsed tears in her eyes before he flew off.

He happened upon an old Airbender temple where an old man resided and asked Appa to give a message to Aang once he found him. Appa's search to Ba Sing Se just two nights ago as he followed the sound of a bison whistle, unfortunately it wasn't the one Aang used. Long Feng led him into a trap and he was brought he to be held hostage.

Suddenly the door to his cell opened and his eyes widened with anticipation when he saw a familiar yet unexpected figure standing in the doorway.

"Expecting someone else?" The blue masked figure asked rhetorically before closing the door and drawing a sword as he approached the flying bison.

Appa stood up while his shackles clattered and growled.

**X X X**

Jet opened the door he led everyone to and entered first to find a big empty room with a tall dark ceiling with chains hanging from it.

Everyone followed him inside when the door slammed shut behind them.

The green crystals embedded in the walls and floor glew brighter and revealed a small army of Dai Li Agents hanging from the chains ready to attack.

"Now that's something different." Sokka commented.

"You have made yourselves enemies of the state." Long Feng stated. "Take them into custody."

Everyone braced themselves for a fight as several agents jumped down to surround them before launching earth gloves at them.

Toph bended them into dust before summoning earth columns that knocked two agents in opposite directions against the walls.

Jet rushed at one agent and sliced the earth gloves coming at him into dirt before sliding and using his hook sword to trip the agent onto the floor.

Aang leaped and sent a wind slash at two agents that knocked them aside.

Katara slashed an earth glove which caused it the drop into a mud pile while Sokka slice at the other with his sword.

Iron Man sent repulsor blasts that vaporized the earth gloves and knocked back the agents that conjured them.

Smellerbee dodged the incoming earth gloves as she closed in on a Dai Li agent and soon flipped her dagger into a defensive position. She used the butt of it to inflict pain to the agent's abdomen and then whacked him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Toph elevated herself with an earth column as she dealt with two more agents when another sent an earth glove from behind which grabbed her shirt and pulled off. Fortunately Jet jumped up and used his hook swords to pull her to safety as Long Shot pulled back an arrow and fired it at in incoming earth glove which shattered it and hit the agent in the shoulder, injuring him.

Jet then jumped over Long Shot and slashed and parried incoming earth gloves before knocking the injured agent unconscious.

As the battle seemed to be going in the kids' favor, Long Feng sneakily turned and ran out of the room as the door sealed shut behind him.

As Aang used a wind sphere to send two more agents across the room he saw Long Feng run off and said, "Long Feng's escaping!"

Aang ran after the fleeing mastermind as Jet ran behind him and Iron Man flew overhead. He earthbended a hole in the wall where the door had stood and they pursued the man who had a headstart and was already reaching another room.

The three followed after him as they entered the room with a big platform in the middle hanging over a darkened pit which two adjacent waterfalls flowed down to have the door slam shut behind them and Long Feng jump down in front of it.

"Alright, Avatar, you've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance, if you want your bison back..." Long Feng stated in a threatening manner.

"Where is Appa? Tell me where is!" Aang demanded.

"Agree to leave the city now and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet." Long Feng said in hopes that they would submit to his request.

"No way, pal! We're not gonna walk away just so you can brainwash everyone into doing your bidding and take over the city." Iron Man said defiantly.

"You think you and the Avatar have beaten me, Iron Man, but you forget that this is not your world. Here, I am in charge and you will do as I say or you will be punished along with your new friends."

"No matter what threats you make towards us or Appa, we're not backing down. Your mind games with this city end here."

"That's right, you're in no position to bargain let alone be making threats." Jet stated.

"Am I not." Long Feng said as though he was the one in control of the situation.

"You're definately not!" Aang said as he rose his staff.

"Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai." Long Feng said confidently.

After several seconds of silence, Jet smirked and said, "Sorry, Long Feng, but your commands don't work on me anymore."

A slightly shocked Long Feng said rhetorically, "How is this possible?"

"Easy, I made something that not only erases hypnotically forgotten memories but also removes hidden suggestions placed in the subconcious." Iron Man stated.

"Hmm, intriguing." Long Feng said as he regained his confidence. "It seems that I have underestimated you, Iron Man, but I still have one last trick up my sleeve."

The three looked at Long Feng with bewilderment until the heard clattering chains from behind them.

They turned to see a rope chain extend from the floor up to the darkened ceiling and hanging from it was a woman, roughly eighteen years-old, with beautifully long black hair and tan skin. She dressed in a revealing yellow corset and a long dark green skirt with black leather gloves and boots but what stood out the most was her enticing eyes and her supple lips that smiled devilishly at them.

**X X X**

Meanwhile Appa was growling at the blue masked stranger as he approached, splitting his sword into two duel blades.

"You're mine now." He said confidently.

He then heard the door open and turned ready to fight only to see former general Iroh standing in the doorway.

"Uncle?"

"So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask." Iroh said half-curiously, though it seemed obvious that he knew who it was.

The Blue Spirit, Zuko, sighed before he pulled the mask off and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Iroh responded sternly. "I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep him locked in our new apartment? Should I go put up a pot of tea for him?"

"First I have to get him out of here-."

"And then what? You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole, you had him and then you had nowhere to go!"

"I would've figured something out!" Zuko said back.

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would've frozen to death!"

"Rrr, I know my own destiny, uncle!"

"Is it your own destiny or is it a destiny that someone else is trying to force on you?"

"Stop it, uncle, I have to do this!"

"I'm begging you, Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions! Who are _you _and what do _you _want?"

Zuko then screamed and dropped his swords and his mask to the floor.

**X X X**

Back with the Aang, Jet and Iron Man, the three kids looked up at the mysterious young woman as she spoke in a sultry tone that would make all men melt.

"I'm Hypnotia and your minds are mine to control."

"Hypnotia is the one who came to us and introduced us to the technique of hypnosis, although our techniques clearly aren't as powerful as hers, hence why I asked her to assist me in apprehending you." Long Feng explained.

"Yours minds are mine." Hypnotia said as she stared at the young boys sending a mesmerizing wave into their eyes.

Iron Man reacted quickly and said as he held his left arm over his face, "Don't look into her eyes or you'll be brainwashed!"

Aang managed to cover his eyes before he succumbed but Jet was unfortunate as he was caught in her gaze.

His eyes turned red from her hypnotic effect as he heard her speak within his mind, _"Your friends are traitors, kill them, kill them now!"_

Jet immediately gripped his hook swords and swung at Aang who managed to quickly avoid getting sliced and started evaded Jet's crazed swipes.

Iron Man was about to turn to activate his psionic blast when Long Feng sent an earth glove at him that formed a fist and punch in his metal plated face.

Long Feng sent more earth chunks at him to keep him from aiding Aang forcing him to use his shields and repulsor rays to counter his attacks, while Hypnotia kept Jet's line of sight in her direction as he tried to cut down the Avatar who's back was facing her.

"Jet, its me, Aang! I'm your friend!" Aang yelled trying to get through to the Freedom Fighter while avoiding being cut to shreds. "You don't have to do this!"

"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice, young Avatar." Hypnotia stated as she manipulated Jet.

As Jet was about to strike a fatal blow to the young Airbender, Aang sent a wave of air at him that pushed him back several feet but he managed to use his hook swords to lessen the distance by hooking them into the floor and land on his feet before continuing his assault.

"Jet, I'm your friend! Look inside your heart!"

"Do your duty, Jet!" Long Feng said to Jet as he pressed his assault on Iron Man.

Jet then stopped in place which caused Hypnotia to grit her teeth at his resistance to her mind control.

"They can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter!" Aang shouted at him.

Jet's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered the day the Fire Nation burned his village to the ground, remembered how he met Smellerbee, Long Shot, Pipsqueak, The Duke and all the other kids he found that were left homeless by the Fire Nation, remembered how despite his bad intentions he had grown to like Katara, Aang and Sokka.

"Do it, do it now!" Long Feng ordered.

"Kill them, Jet!" Hypnotia commanded him.

Upon remembering everything, Jet snapped out of Hypnotia's spell and turned his head away as he threw one of his hook swords at Long Feng who side-stepped them and sent a powerful earth chunk at him.

Time seem to slow down for Jet as he looked at the incoming earth chunk that would most likely kill him upon impact. Jet sensed that this was his end and he was content with it, knowing that he would at least die free from Long Feng and Hypnotia's control.

But this was not his end, just as the earth chunk was close to the point of breaking his body a repulsor blast shattered the earth chunk to rubble. The close proximity of the blast caused Jet to fall back onto the ground. He shielded his eyes keep dirt from getting into them and breathed heavily at having avoided his possible death.

In a split second after the earth chunk was blasted apart, Hypnotia swung down from the ceiling and grabbed Long Feng's arm as they swung up to a balcony over the door.

"Foolish boy, you have chosen your own demise!" Long Feng said before they ran off as the earthbended door was sealed shut behind them.

Aang and Iron Man ran over to Jet to check and see if he was okay.

"Are you alright, Jet?" Aang asked.

"Yeah." He replied as he looked at Iron Man who retracted his mask. "Thanks for the save there. I would've killed been killed if you hadn't been here."

"Your welcome, no doubt that chunk would've broken you in half." Tony responded.

Jet turned to the Avatar and said, "I'm sorry, Aang."

"Don't be." The young airbender said back.

Suddenly the door they came in through opened and everyone came rushing in.

"Are you all okay?" Katara asked with a concerned look.

"We're fine, just a few bumps and bruises, but Long Feng got away and apparently he has an expert hypnotist named Hypnotia working with him. She tried to have Jet kill Aang but he managed to break free from her control." Tony explained.

"We gotta hurry if we're gonna find Appa." Aang said as he helped Jet to his feet.

"Right, let's find him and get outta this freaky place." Sokka said happily.

"Alright, let's go." Tony said as his mask recovered his face.

They all ran out of the room and followed a passage to another door that read in the Four Nations writing, "Cell Block".

Toph bended the door open and they all rushed in to find a room that held six open shackles chained to the floor.

"Appa's gone!" Aang said in disbelief. "Long Feng beat us here."

"If we keep moving, we could still catch up with them." Sokka stated.

"We'll have to move quickly, let's go!" Iron Man added.

With that, everyone hurried out of the underground base and met back up with Miako, Momo and the panther-cats. Together they rushed up the ladder back to the surface and ran across the shore as more Dai Li agents followed after them.

"You think we can outrun them?" Sokka asked.

"I don't think its gonna matter." Aang said as he saw more Dai Li agents up ahead of them with Long Feng and Hypnotia standing at the front.

The Dai Li bended an tall earth wall the blocked off their escape as well as kept them from going after Long Feng and Hypnotia. The Dai Li behind the followed suit and Team Avatar found themselves boxed in.

"Joo Dee, I am very disappointed in you. When you decided to join the Dai Li, I had high hopes that you would succeed me after I was gone, but aiding the Avatar and his friends is a serious matter and you will be punished severely without prejudice." Long Feng said to Miako.

Miako finally overcame her fear of the consequences for speaking her mind and said bravely, "When I joined the Dai Li, I had no idea that I was going to be a mindless doll like the other girls who joined. You've taken their individuality, there feelings, their lives away from them. If I had known that was the cost of joining the Dai Li, I wouldn't have joined at all! I would rather die then continue being your slave!"

"Then you shall have your wished granted to you." Long Feng said as he readied to order the Dai Li to attack them.

Momo began chittering.

"What is it, Momo?" Aang asked before the flying lemur took to the sky and flew up toward the sun.

Suddenly Appa apeared as he flew down toward Aang and the others.

"Appa!" Aang shouted happily as eveyone began to smile in delight.

The flying bison flew down and rammed through the earth walls and sent the Dai Li, Long Feng and Hypnotia flying.

"Wow...just...wow." Iron Man said in awe, amazed by the flying bison's strength.

Aang and Toph then earthbended a few Dai Li agents clinging to the cliff wall out of position and into the lake while Iron Man started blasting repulsor rays at any remaining Dai Li still wanting to apprehend them.

Appa landed in front of Long Feng as the Dai Li near him fled and growled angrily.

"I can handle you by myself." He said overconfidently as he leaped to attack.

Suddenly Appa opened his mouth and caught Long Feng's left leg, gripped it tight and then flung him into the lake causing him to skip several times before sinking.

Hypnotia brushed off the rubble she was covered in and after seeing what had befallen Long Feng chose to run off after the Dai Li.

Appa then spat out Long Feng's left shoe as Aang, Sokka, Katara and Toph ran up the bison and hugged him tightly; having not seen him in weeks.

"I missed you buddy." Aang said as a tear streamed down his left cheek.

Appa then, for the first time in weeks, closed his eyes and sighed calmy at finally reuniting with his human companion.

Everyone ranging from Aang's group, Jet's team, Miako, Momo and the panther-cats got on top of Appa and the flying bison took to the sky while Iron Man flew side-by-side. Appa looked at him with intrigue and soon started to fly faster, hinting to wanting to race the armored hero. Tony of course accepted as they flew away from Lake Laogai.

Ubeknownst to them however, Zuko and his uncle climbed up out of the entrance to the underground headquarters.

"You did the right thing, nephew." Iroh said with a smile.

Zuko then held up his Blue Spirit mask and stared at it intensely.

"Leave it behind." Iroh told him.

Zuko walked over to the edge of the pathway near the water and looked at the mask more closely. He knew he should let it go, he had no reason not to listen to his uncle.

He had to let it go.

But he couldn't, something inside him told him the needed to hold onto it.

"I can't." Zuko stated.

"Zuko...?" Iroh said in confusion.

"I am the Blue Spirit, it's not just something that I do that I can't do as Zuko. The Blue Spirit has a legacy that needs to be keep alive and the only person who can do that is me. I can let the Avatar's bison go free, uncle, but I can't give this up." Zuko explained thoroughly.

Though Iroh felt that he was still clinging to something he didn't need, he knew he couldn't force his nephew to throw away the Blue Spirit and was forced to accept his decision to keep it.

* * *

**This ends Chapter 4 and thus the changes to the Avatar story have begun, Joo Dee is freed from her hypnosis and joins the group along with Momo's panther-cat friends, Jet lives and he and his team stick with the group and Zuko continues being the Blue Spirit.**

**I sorta felt bad for the way Joo Dee was treated and thought about how she would've been if she were freed from the Dai Li's control and thus applied it to the story. I have something special planned for her later on.**

**The panther-cats I felt should've stuck around Momo a little more after he had helped them out and thus I decided to have them tag along for a while.**

**I always wondered what would've happened if Jet had survived and stuck by them in finding Appa. I have an interesting plan for him later on during the end of Book 2 during the climactic battle.**

**As for Zuko continuing to be the Blue Spirit, I thought about his meeting with Iron Man when he saved Iroh and this in turn gives him a reason to hold onto the identity to later on become a sort of superhero himself.**

**For those who are wondering, Hypnotia is a villainess from 90's Iron Man animated series that I worked into the Avatar Universe. Her powers are slightly supernatural as the moment someone looks into her eyes they become ensnared by her.**

**Next Chapter: Reaching the Earth King**

**After finally saving Appa, Aang and the others decide to reach the Earth King and warn him about the war, but Long Feng and Hypnotia continue to hinder their progress and Ba Sing Se recieves unwanted arrivals.**


	5. Reaching the Earth King

**Chapter 5: Reaching the Earth King**

In the middle of Lake Laogai near the edge of Ba Sing Se...

Team Avatar and their friends took refuge on a small island in the middle of the vast lake. The main members of the group were overjoyed at having finally found Appa. Aang was the most overjoyed; after everything that stood in his way, after all the obstacles and strange occurances since he was taken in the desert he finally had his friend back.

"I missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy" Aang said as him and Momo hugged Appa bison for what was likely the tenth time in the last hour; Appa then licked him back.

Sokka then stood up and went over to the others. Katara stood next to Toph who was sitting down flicking rocks into the water, Jet sat on a boulder sharpening one of his hook swords while Smellerbee and Longshot stood near him apologizing for not believing him about Zuko and Iroh, Iron Man was busy repairing his armor while Miako sat on another another boulder petting the panther-cats.

"Look, we escaped from the Dai Li, we got Appa back and we have more people backing us than before, I'm telling you we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a role."

Katara replied, "One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll."

"But we can build on it. If we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we need the Earth King's support."

"Wait, what invasion?" Jet asked.

"Around the time we lost Appa, we were in a Spirit Library where we learned that the Fire Nation lose their firebending during a solar eclipse and there's going to be one in several weeks." Sokka explained.

"Are you serious?" Smellerbee asked.

"Yes, but as I said, if we're gonna invade we need the Earth King to back us up."

"What makes you think we'll get it?" Toph asked. "I don't know if you've noticed but things don't usually go _that _smoothly for our little gang."

"I know, but I've got a pretty good feeling about this. This time _will _be different. We have Jet helping us again, though hopefully he won't backstab us again."

"Hey!" Jet said irritantly.

"We have Iron Man and his friends in his other world helping us."

They turned to Iron Man to see him adjusting his instruments and gizmos after the beating they took in the Dai Li headquarters.

"And we have Miako who has knowledge on how Long Feng and the Dai Li operate. I'm telling you, we can't possibly fail." Sokka insisted.

"Sokka, Long Feng is in control of the city, his conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful. You saw what he did to Miako and Jet, he was in complete control of them. I think we should all keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."

"I'm with sweetness, I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se and I can't even see." Toph stated.

Aang swooped over to them and said with a big smile, "But now that we have Appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth about the conspiracy and the war."

"See? Aang's with me." Sokka said as he put an arm on Aang's shoulder. "It's the whole reason we came here in the first place, we have to try."

"I'm with you guys." Jet said as he stood up and placed his sword in his sheathe. "After what Long Feng did to me, I'd like nothing more than to make him pay in full."

"We're with you, Jet." Smellerbee said as she and Long Shot stood beside him.

"I too would like to help." Miako said. "I am already in enough trouble as it is, so I might as well keep going."

"What about you, Tony?" Aang asked.

Tony replied, "I'm with you, I just need to figure out who this Hypnotia woman really is. Something tells me that her presence was something just as unexpected as mine and Mandarin's is."

"What do ya mean?" Aang wondered.

"I've been thinking about how things in your world would've played out if me and the Mandarin didn't show up. Certain events and interactions are still the same but our presence causes slight changes from what they would've been which could also lead to drastic changes." Tony explained as he placed his helmet back on his head.

"I understand what you mean, down in Lake Laogai Jet could've been killed by that earth chunk if you hadn't been there." Aang pointed out.

"And I would still likely be under Long Feng's control had Tony not been here to free me." Miako stated.

"Exactly my point, however certain events are still playing out as they likely would've. We have Appa back and we're not prisoners of Long Feng and the Dai Li, the only difference between this turn of events and the events without me involved is that we helped two people out that would've been beyond help if I wasn't here. Bottom line, Sokka would still likely suggest that we go to the Earth King and though I don't know how it may play out, I think it means that it is likely what we are meant to do."

"He's got a point there." Aang stated.

"Come on, Katara, whaddya say?" Sokka asked.

Katara placed and finger on her chin and said, "Well, I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things _could _change for the better."

"I don't trust the new positive Sokka. Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he!" Toph said playfullly.

Aang then turned his head and saw three small ships out on the water.

"That's probably the Dai Li searching for us." Sokka stated as he turned to Katara. "So?"

"Let's fly." Katara said enthusiastically.

**X X X**

**{Cue Iron Man Armored Adventures Theme}**

**X X X**

Almost everyone clung to Appa's back as they flew full speed toward the Earth King's palace while Iron Man flew right beside them.

"Could we please buy a new saddle?! Riding bareback is terrifying!" Toph yelled with a scared expression on her face.

"Hey, you could've let me carry ya." Iron Man stated.

Toph merely blushed at his remark.

"I agree with Toph, this is by far the most dangerous position I've ever been in!" Jet let out as they closed in on the Earth Kingdom Palace.

Sokka said, "There it is, that whole place is the palace. The Earth King's chamber should be in the center."

"Guys, JARVIS is detecting multiple hostiles surrounding the palace." Iron Man stated.

"Who's JARVIS?" Jet asked.

"He's the voice inside my armor." Iron Man replied.

"We have to be careful. Long Feng has probably already warned the Earth King that we're coming." Katara stated.

Sokka responded overconfidently, "Why would you assume that? If you ask me, I think we're just gonna sail right on in-Aaahhh!"

Appa managed to swerve left to avoid an incoming boulder.

"What was that?!" Toph yelled.

"They're firing at us!" Sokka yelled. "More rocks incoming, aahh!"

"I know this music." Iron Man stated as he tapped the computer on his wrist. "So let's change the beat."

Suddenly as they made their descent, they were listening to some music that he called "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC at a high volume. Toph could hear the vibrations of the song and though she wasn't familiar with this type of music she was bobbing her head to the beat.

_**"All you women, who want a man on the street...But you don't know which way you wanna turn..."**_

As an incoming rock neared, Aang effortlessly shot out his right arm and shattered it to dust with a stern look on his face. Another that was heading right in front of them was sliced in half by Aang.

_**"Just keep a coming, and put your hand out to me...'Cause I'm the one who's gonna make you burn..."**_

The Dai Li fired another boulder at them and this time Iron man sent a repulsor blast that broke it into chunks.

_**"I'm gonna take you down...down, down, down...So don't you fool around...I'm gonna put in a bullet, pull the trigger..."**_

As an battalion of Dai Li stood ready to oppose them, Aang shot down and used both airbending and earthbending to land neatly on the ground to create a shockwave that blasted the battalion away. Once Appa landed, the bison growled at the mounted battalion leader who fell off and ran away.

_**"Shoot to thrill, play to kill...Too many women with too many pills...Shoot to thrill, play to kill...I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will..."**_

Sokka, Katara, Toph, Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot dismounted Appa while Miako and the panther-cats stayed on and they made their way to the palace on foot while Iron Man flew a few feet above them.

_**"I'm like evil, I get under your skin...Just like a bomb that's ready to blow...'Cause I'm illegal, I've got everything...That all you women might need to know..."**_

As they followed the path to the palace, they were attacked by Dai Li agents that formed two single-file lines across the path. Aang and Toph used their earthbending to block and counter their attacks while Jet, Katara, Longshot and Iron Man used their own tools to dispatch them from their destination.

_**"I'm gonna take you down...yeah, down, down, down...So don't you fool around...I'm gonna put in a bullet, pull the trigger..."**_

More Dai Li charged at them and Toph proceeded the pull up multiple earth slabs in front of each agent and toppled them like dominos.

_**"Shoot to thrill, play to kill...Too many women with too many pills...Shoot to thrill, play to kill...I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will..."**_

Katara said as they ran around them, "Sorry, we just need to get in to see the Earth King."

_**"'Cause I'll Shoot to thrill, and I'm ready to kill...I can't get enough and I can't get my fill...I'll shoot to thrill, play to kill...Yeah, pull the trigger..."**_

As they neared the moat bridge leading to the steps at the base of the palace, the Dai Li up top bended two large statues into the air and hurled them down at the children. Iron Man sent a repulsor blast that destroyed one while Toph and Aang formed an earth wall around them, Appa and the others which the other statue collided against and shattered.

Katara then ran out of the shelter and waterbended an ice slide over the moat and then used waterwhips to dispatch the Dai Li surounding her. Iron Man flew over and helped pick up a few off the ground and tossed them into the moat as Appa and the others crossed the bridge.

"Enjoy your swim, fellas." Iron Man said humorously to the Dai Li in the moat.

At the top, more Dai Li agents descended the stairs as they shot more rocks at them. Toph concentrated hard and then slammed her foot to the ground, causing the stairs to turn into a steep slide which caused the Dai Li to slide down.

Aang and Toph then carved a square of earth around the whole group and bended it up the steep slide-like wall like an elevator.

"Elevator going up!" Iron Man quiped.

_**"Shoot to thrill, play to kill...Too many women with too many pills, I said...Shoot to thrill, play to kill...I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will..."**_

As the ascended the once staircase, the Dai Li slid down passed them.

"Seriously, we're on your side!" Sokka tried to explain as a Dai Li agent tumbled passed him. "Sorry!"

_**"'Cause I'll shoot to thrill, and I'm ready to kill...I can't get enough and I can't get my thrill, 'cause I'll..."**_

Once they reached the top of the staircase, more Dai Li attempted to take them at the sides and Aang and Toph earthbended them away. When another group descended from the ceiling, Iron Man landed in front of Aang and Toph and blasted them away with his uni-beam.

_**"Shoot to thrill, play to kill!"**_ Tony stopped the music by that point.

They pressed on into the palace and came to a big square room with three other passages, Dai Li agents appeared from all three of them.

Toph them bended earth columns upward that pinned them all to the ceiling.

"Toph, which way to the Earth King?" Sokka asked.

"How should I know? I'm still voting that we _leave_ Ba Sing Se." She replied wittily as she bended more Dai Li out of their path.

Sokka ran over to one of the doors on the left and saw nothing. He opened another door and saw a woman who screamed at the sight of him.

"Sorry, wrong door!" Sokka replied as he shut the door.

**X X X**

In the Outer Ring apartment that Zuko and Iroh were staying...

The door opened and in walked Zuko who was dragging his sheathe with his sword on the ground while clutching his Blue Spirit mask.

His Uncle Iroh said as he closed the door behind them, "You did the right thing letting the Avatar's bison go free."

"I-I don't feel right." Zuko responded as he looked at his hand holding his mask, it was blurry.

He looked around the room and it started to spin before he fell to the floor unconscious.

"Zuko!" His uncle called out as he ran over to check on him.

**X X X**

Back the Earth King's Palace...

The group remained in the square room trying to figure out where the Earth King was. Toph and Aang had used the wrecked floor to barricade the passages for a bit before more Dai Li could attack them.

Sokka peeked over one of the passages and saw a large pair of green and yellow doors ahead of him.

"Now _that's_ an impressive door. Its gotta go somewhere." He said as he climbed over the rubble and charged toward it.

He jumped in the air and was prepared to kick it open only for him to connect and then fall on his back painfully.

He then got up and tried pushing it as Aang, Toph and Iron Man sent air, earth and repulsor blasts at the doors which broke from their hinges and Sokka tumbled inside.

"Hey, a little warning next time!" He whined.

"Seriously, Sokka, I would've thought that you would have gotten a little less clumsy since the last time I saw you." Jet commented.

"Aw, stow it." Sokka responded.

He got up and everyone ran into the room where they stood in the presence of the Earth King.

Suddenly, Long Feng ran in front of him and several Dai Li agents followed.

"We need to talk to you." Aang said to the Earth King.

"They're here to overthrow you." Long Feng said calmly to the King.

"No, we're on your side. We're here to help." Sokka stated.

"Please, you have to trust us." Katara pleaded.

"You invade my palace, lay waist to all my guards, break down my fancy door and you expect me to trust you?" The Earth King said in a calm yet annoyed manner.

"You know, he has a good point." Toph stated.

"If you're on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down." The Earth King demanded.

Everyone looked at each other and decided to do as he asked, they dropped their weapons as Katara retracted her water back into her poutch and Toph let a rock drop into the ground while Iron Man landed on his feet.

"See, we're friends your Earthiness." Aang said with big nervous smile.

The Earth King simply stood unamused as Long Feng motioned his hand and the Dai Li launched Earth Gloves at them and their wrists were bound behind their backs.

"Not again!" Jet let out.

Long Feng smirked devishly like he had won.

"Detain the assailants." Long Feng ordered.

The Dai Li skidded swiftly behind everyone.

"But we dropped our weapons, we're your allies." Sokka stated.

"Make sure that the Avatar and his friends never see the light of day ever again." Long Feng said triumphantly.

"The Avatar? You're the Avatar" The Earth King said in a surprised manner as he pointed at Sokka.

"Uh, no, him." Sokka said as he motioned his head toward Aang.

"Over here." Aang said as he quickly unbound his wrists to wave at the king before he rebound them.

"What does it matter, your highness? They are enemies of the state." Long Feng said in hopes of swaying the king.

"Perhaps you are right..." The king said as his pet bear went over and licked Aang's right cheek causing him to laugh. "...Though Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say."

This made Long Feng narrow his eyes, clearly he was losing his control over the Earth King.

Aang then approached the king with his hands still bound and said, "Well, sir, there's a war going on right now, for the past one hundred years in fact. The Dai Li has kept it secret from you, its a conspiracy to control the city and to control you."

"A secret war? That's crazy." The Earth King said in disbelief.

"Completely." Long Feng added.

"Welcome to my world." Iron Man quipped.

"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you, so he kidnapped our sky bison to blackmail us and blackmail is the least of his crimes. He brainwashed our friends."

"All lies, I've never even seen a sky bison, your majesty. Frankly, I thought they were extinct." Long Feng lied through his teeth.

"Your claim is difficult to believe, even from an Avatar..."

"These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks. If you listen to them, you will be playing right into your own destruction." Long Feng said to the king's ear.

The king then said, "I have to trust my advisor."

Long Feng then smiled as the Dai Li led the children away.

"Wait, I can prove that he's lying." Sokka said confidently. "Long Feng said that he's never seen a sky bison, ask him to lift his robe."

"What, I am not disrobing!" Long Feng said in semi-fake outrage.

Sokka winked at Aang and he grinned before inhale a gust of air and blowing it in a manner that lifted Long Feng's robe up and showed a red mark on his left leg.

"Right there, Appa bit him!" Aang pointed out.

"Never met a sky bison, huh?" Sokka said as he grinned at Long Feng exposure.

Long Feng responded as he pushed his robe back down in place, "That happens to be a large birthmark, thanks for showing everyone."

"Well, I suppose there's no way to prove where those marks came from..."

"Of course there is." Sokka stated.

Appa came in with Miako and the panther-cats on his back and they got off as Aang opened Appa's mouth and pointed at his friend's teeth, clearly the same size and shape as the mark on Long Feng's leg.

"Yeah, that pretty much proves it." The king stated.

"Yeah! Woohoo!" The kids said in triumph.

"But it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory." The king added.

"Ooohh!" The kings said sullenly.

"Though I suppose this matter is worth looking into." The king said which upset Long Feng.

"Uh, okay, we'll take it." The kids said with slight uncertainty.

Long Feng then walked off along with the Dai Li agents with a look of disappointment.

**X X X**

Back at Zuko and Iroh's apartment...

Zuko laid in his bed sweating as he stirred in his sleep.

"You're burning up, you have an intense fever." Iroh said as he took a wet rag and placed it on Zuko's head. "This will help cool you down."

"I'm so thirsty."

Zuko tried to sit up but Iroh set him back down and grabbed a cup.

"Here's some clean water to drink." He said as he helped him sip the water.

Zuko clumsily gulped it down and then grabbed the bucket and gulped down what he could while the rest splash on his chest before he tossed the bucket aside. He then lied down and rested, coughing as his uncle covered him up.

**X X X**

On one of the earth kingdom monorails, The people onboard couldn't help but to stare at the Earth King who stood before them along with his personal guards while Katara, Sokka, Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot, Miako, the three panther-cats and Toph sat near him.

"So this is what a train is like. I didn't realize it would be this...public." The Earth King said nervously."

"So you've never been outside the upper ring before?" Katara asked.

"I've never been outside the palace." The Earth King stated before he pointed out toward Aang flying on top of Appa while Momo and Iron Man flew beside him. "So, may I ask where we're going?"

"Underneath Lake Laogai, your kingliness, to the Dai Li's secret headquarters. You're about to see where all the brainwashing and conspiring took place." Sokka replied.

"I still find it hard to believe that the Dai Li brainwashed people."

Jet then spoke, "Believe me, your majesty, they are capable of it. They took me when I was trying to expose Fire Nation spies and brainwashed me into thinking that there was no war."

"They also brainwashed me into being their obedient servant, something I was not aware of when I joined." Miako added.

The Earth King looked a bit saddened to hear this.

Once the reached Lake Laogai, everyone led the Earth King to the shore where they first entered earlier. Toph bended to pathway to the secret entrance but the path appeared crumbled and the entrance was nowhere to be seen.

"It's gone." Toph said.

"Oh, don't tell me..." Sokka said with a depressed look. "That's okay, I still got my positive attitude."

Katara then spoke, "The Dai Li must've known that we were coming and destroyed the evidence."

"Hmm, that seems awfully convenient." The Earth King stated.

"Hey, if anything this proves that the conspiracy exists even more." Sokka pointed out.

"Long Feng was right, this was a waist of time. If you will excuse me, I'm going back to the palace." The Earth King said as he turned to walk away.

Katara then hatched an idea and said, "The wall! They'll never be able to cover that up in time!"

"Oh, yeah!" Aang said and he bended himself up to the Earth King. "Come with us to the outer wall. We can prove to you that the secret war is real."

"No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall, I don't have time for anymore of this nonsense." The Earth King said as he walked passed the Avatar.

Sokka then walked up beside Aang and said merrily, "If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa."

The Earth King then stopped walking and grinned enthusiastically as Appa made his usual growling noise.

Moments later the Earth King was screaming as Appa flew him and most of the gang to the outer wall while Iron Man flew beside them.

"First time flying?" Toph asked bluntly.

"Its both thrilling and terrifying." The Earth King replied.

"Yeah, I hate it too." Toph replied.

The Earth King then spoke earnestly, "I have to be honest with you all, part of me hopes that what you're telling me about this war...isn't true."

"I wish it wasn't." Aang said as they neared the outer wall.

**X X X**

At Zuko and Iroh's apaertment...

It was sunset as Zuko began to stir in his sleep, he was having a dream about himself sitting on the Fire Nation throne without his scar as two dragons, a red and a blue one, slithered up the two pillar columns behind him.

"Its getting late, are you planning on retiring soon, my lord?" The Blue Dragon asked with Azula's voice.

"I'm not tired." Zuko said back.

"Relax, Fire Lord Zuko, just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while." The Blue Dragon said.

"No, Fire Lord Zuko, do not listen to the Blue Dragon. You should get out of here right now. Go, before its too late!" The Red Dragon said with Iroh's voice.

"Sleeeep, Fire Lord Zuko." The Blue Dragon said seductively as the natural flames in the throne room disappeared along with the dragons and the columns cracked and shattered.

The Fire Nation troops bowed before him and the Blue Dragon reappeared and said, "Sleeeep, just like mother!"

He then saw his mother calling out to him for help.

Iroh saw Zuko's closed eyes begin to tear up and he wiped them along with his sweat away with a wet clothe.

Back in Zuko's dream, he saw his mother with a kind yet sad expression standing next to his uncle who had the same expression and with them stood Iron Man, who he remembered had saved his uncle, with his face covered. They were standing to his left.

On his right, he saw his sister with a wicked expression standing next to their father who had the same expression and with them stood someone had never seen before. Like Iron Man he wore strange armor except it was all black and demonic and Zuko could see ten different glowing rings on each of the man's fingers.

More people began to appear, along with his mother, uncle and Iron Man stood the Avatar, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot, a Kyoshi Warrior, Ty-Lee, Mai, a big hulking green man, a young man in black panther-like costume, a young man with short blonde hair dressed in purple with a bow, a man with an eye-patch, a woman with red hair in a black suit with gold wristbands and finally a man wearing red, white and blue carrying a shield. Those whose faces weren't covered by masks looked at him in different expressions but he could tell they were looking at him with hope in their eyes.

Along with his sister, father and the demonic warrior with ten rings stood Zhao, five Fire Nation Generals who he knew to be brutal, a Yuu Yan archer, a Fire-Bender assassin with a third eye, two evil-looking earth benders, a green monster man with jagged bones sticking out, a short man in a floating chair with a big head, A man with a metal face and a green cape, a woman dressed in black with dark hair and a gold mask and finally a man whose face seemed to be ripped off as there was nothing but a red skull. Those whose faces weren't covered by masks looked at him in the same expressions, the looked of evil with wrath in their eyes.

He looked at both sides and realized that he had to choose which side he was on.

At the moment, he wasn't sure.

**X X X**

The gang and the Earth King arrived at the outer wall and saw the remains of a giant drill with the Fire Nation symbol on it.

"Look, its still here!" Aang said enthusiastically as they descended to the wall.

"What is that?" The Earth King asked.

Sokka replied, "Its a drill, a giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls."

"Man, they actually built this?" Jet asked bewilderedly.

"I'm afraid so." Katara replied.

"Wow, I gotta hand it to the Fire Nation, they have good resources to be able to build this thing. I can only imagine what else they can build." Iron Man said.

Katara then looked over at him and asked, "Iron Man, do you have machines like this back in your world?"

"Ours are more advanced, but yeah we do. Despite how different our worlds are, yours seems to be catching up with mine rather quickly."

"Is that good or bad?" Sokka asked.

"Good question, unfortunately I don't know the answer to that." Iron Man replied.

Once they landed on the outer wall, the Earth King walked over to the edge to get a better look at the drill and frowned.

"I can't believe I never knew." He said sullenly.

"I can explain this, your majesty." Long Feng said as he and two Dai Li agents appeared from an earthbended elevator. "This is nothing more than...a construction project."

"Really, then maybe you can explain why there's a Fire Nation insignia on your little construction project." Katara said back.

Tony smirked at that remark of hers under his mask, if only Obadiah Stane was just as stupid as Long Feng with his lies.

"Well, its imported, of course. You know you can't trust domestic machinery." Long Feng said with a fake smile which nobody, not even the Earth King was buying. "Surely you don't believe these children and their ragtag hooligan friends instead of your most loyal attendent?"

The Earth King then looked at the Avatar's group and Long Feng.

Finally he said, "Dai Li, arrest Long Feng. I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."

Long Feng gaped in horror while the Avatar's group gaped awe at having convinced the Earth King.

The two Dai Li agents then exchanged glances before they shot out metal cuffs and proceeded to carry Long Feng off.

"You can't arrest me! You will need me more than you know!" Long Feng yelled as he was taken away.

Sokka smiled widely as he said, "Looks like Long Feng is long gone! Ha, yeah, I've been waiting to use that one."

Several members shook their heads while smirked at his remark.

**X X X**

Later at night back at the Earth King's Palace...

"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools and that makes me the King of the Fools." The Earth King said as Momo laid on top of Bosco the bear. "We are at war and with the Fire Nation of all people. They are said to be the most industrialized nation in the world and with weapons like that drill, we wouldn't stand much of a chance against them."

"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, your highness." Sokka spoke up. "Because we think that you can help us end the war."

"We don't have much time." Aang explained. "There's a comet coming this summer. Its energy will give the firebenders unbelieveable strength. They'll be unstoppable."

Sokka stepped forward and said, "But there is hope. Before the comet comes we have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming, the sun will be entirely blocked out by the moon and the firebenders the helpless."

"What are you suggesting, Sokka?" The Earth King asked.

"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation, the Day of Black Sun."

"I don't know." The Earth King said uncertainly. "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable."

"With all due respect, your majesty." Sokka spoke up. "You're already vulnerable. The Fire Nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance."

"I...I just don't know. I wouldn't know where to begin. The troops in Ba Sing Se have never been in a war in ages." The Earth King explained.

Iron Man stepped foraward and said, "I can help you out with that, your majesty."

"And you are?" The Earth King asked as he didn't remember the armored warrior's name.

"People call me Iron Man, but..." Iron Man said as he retracted his mask. "My real name is Tony Stark and back where I come from I'm one of the richest kids in the world. My dad was an inventor and so am I until one day when our...flying machines exploded. I thought my dad had died and I was at my most vulnerable when I sustained a fatal blow to my heart and I could've just given up then and died too, but I chose to fight and here I am now as the Invincible Iron Man."

"That is both tragic and yet remarkable...but how does that help us?" The Earth King said.

Tony replied, "I normally don't like warfare especially since my dad used to make weapons for my nation's military but if this war that the Fire Nation started has been going on for a hundred years then I say its time for us to end it. I won't build weapons for you but I can help your troops with strategies and deal with certain situations that they can't; whaddya say?"

After a moment of silence the Earth King replied, "Very well, you have my support."

"Yeah, woohoo!" The kids said joyfully.

"Your majesty, there's something else you should know..." Jet said as he stepped forward. "There are two Firebenders in your city, I saw them and apparently Aang and his friends have a history with them. You need to arrest them now while you still can."

"Very well, I will see to it that they are taken into custody, though I will need you with me to identify them." The king replied.

"I'd be more than happy to." Jet said with smile on his face, Katara saw this and though she no liking for Zuko any more than him the look on his face scared her.

"Your majesty!" An Earth Kingdom general said as he approached the king. "I apologize for the interruption."

"This is General How, he's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest ranking generals."

General How then spoke, "We searched Long Feng's office and I think we found something that will interest everybody."

**X X X**

In Long Feng's Office...

General How spoke as he brought a chest to the desk that everyone gathered at. "There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se; inluding you kids."

"Secret files?" Aang said curiously

"Toph Bei Fong." The Earth King read the one scroll as he handed it to Katara who opened it to read it for her.

"Its a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city and she wants to see you."

This took Toph by surprise, she had left her parents to help train Aang in Earth Bending and to get away from being isolated from the world. Now hearing thar her mother was here both terrified her and delighted her.

"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" She said as she shook her head. "That's just sad."

"Aang." The Earth King read another scroll as he handed it to the young Avatar.

"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it." General How explained.

"Its from the Eastern Air Temple." Aang said as he briefly read it.

"Is there...a letter for me and Sokka by any chance?" Katara asked sheepishly.

"I'm afraid not..." The Earth King said.

"Oh."

"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you." General How said as he handed them a scroll.

Katara opened it and said, "A small fleet of Water Tribe ships?"

"What? That could be dad!" Sokka said in delight.

"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay? Led by Hakoda, it _is_ dad!" Katara screamed in joy.

"Jet, there's a message for you and your friends in here." The Earth King said as he handed him the scroll.

Jet read it and said, "Its from the kids back at our old hideout, written by The Duke and Pipsqueak, they want to know how we're doing."

"Should we tell them what happened?" Smellerbee asked.

"Uh, I don't know." Jet said with a look of uncertainty.

**X X X**

At Zuko and Iroh's apartment...

"You should know that this is not a natural sickness..." Iroh said as he poured some tea into a small cup and handed it to Zuko. "...but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea."

Zuko drank his tea and asked, "W-What's happening?"

"Your critical decision, what you did beneath that lake, it was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body."

Zuko drank more tea and asked, "What's that mean?" He then started to cough and laid down.

"You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it you will be the beautiful prince you were meant to be." Iroh explained as he helped Zuko get back to sleep.

**X X X**

At the Earth Kingdom Palace in Long Feng's Office...

"I can't believe it..." Aang said as him and his friends sat on the floor in a circle. "...There's a man living at Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru."

"What's a guru, some kinda poisonous blowfish?" Sokka asked.

"No, a spiritual expert. He wants to help me take the next step in the Avatar journey, he says he can teach me to control the Avatar State."

"The Avatar State?" Tony asked.

"Its an Avatar defense mechanism, when he really hurt, his eyes and tatoos start glowing and his bending power increases time a hundred." Katara explained.

"Reminds me of the Hulk." Tony commented.

"The what?" Toph asked.

"Its a big green human monster back in my world. The angrier he gets, the stronger he gets."

"Hmm, sounds like my kind of monster."

"Despite the things we did, the orphans are wondering how we're doing. Its just unbelievable." Jet said as him, Smellerbee and Longshot went over the letter.

"And I can't believe we know where our dad is now." Katara said with joy.

"I know what you mean. My mom's in the city and from her letter it sounds like she finally understands me." Toph added.

"This is all such big news." Sokka stated. "Where do we even start?"

"I hate to say it but we have to split up." Katara said sullenly.

"Split up? We just got Appa and got the family back together, now you want us to seperate?" Aang said in disbelief.

"You have to meet this guru, Aang. If we're gonna invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready."

"Well, if I'm gonna go to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I can drop you off at Chameleon Bay to see you dad."

Sokka then said, "Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion." He then stood up. "I guess that's me."

"No, Sokka, I know how badly you wanna help dad. You go to Chameleon Bay, I'll stay here with the king." Katara said as she stood up.

Sokka got all happy as he said, "You are the nicest sister ever!" He then kissed her cheek.

"Easy there, big brother...though you're right, I am." She said with a grin on her face.

**X X X**

The Earth King and General How led Iron Man and Miako back to the throne room where four military dressed men stood waiting.

"Iron Man, these are the other four members of the Council of Five. You may relay to them the battle plan for invading the Fire Nation." The Earth King stated.

"Thank you, your majesty. Okay, gentlemen, things are gonna be rough from here on out. The Fire Nation has been waging war against your whole world for a hundred years and your numbers are few. Your military hasn't seen much battle and I suspect that the Dai Li won't be of much help to us, especially after the trouble me and my friends put them through."

The made two generals nervous and the other two sighed in despair.

"But back in my world a man named Colonel Chester Philips quoted General Patten who once said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men, ergo it is our duty to create the greatest army in your kingdom's history, but every army begins with one man. In my country the one man that helped us win World War Two was Captain America, a man named after his country who was the first and only known Super-Soldier."

"A Super-Soldier? What is that?"

"A Super-Soldier is a regular man trained like a soldier and then given a serum to enhance his physique and physical limitations. We are not creating Super-Soldiers, mind you, we are however going to establish troops made up of the best benders, soldiers and fighters."

"We know of a few who are available and are among our ranks." General How stated.

"Good, that's a start. We'll also need people not in the military who want to help and can do just that."

"We can send word throughout the city tomorrow morning, start enlisting people looking to put an end to the war."

"Alright, I'll help you with that and remember, we don't enlist people who don't want to. Not everyone wants to fight and its not our place to force them to."

"Agreed, we'll meet tomorrow morning to begin preparations."

"Great, I'll see you then." Iron Man said as he made his way back to his friends and the generals took their leave.

The king sat on his throne and then looked at Miako and said, "Lady Miako, I must ask what your experience with the Dai Li was like."

"It was horrible, your majesty. When I first joined, I did so to serve my kingdom proudly. They said it would only require slight mind alterations and I agreed to it, but they did more than slightly alterate my mind. They turned me into a mindless puppet, an obediant slave forced to do terrible things without question." She explained as she started to calmly break down.

"It must've been terrible..."

"It gets worse, they gave me a different name, Joo Dee, and I wasn't the only one named that. All the other girls who joined the Dai Li were brainwashed into being slaves known as Joo Dee and were never told about the others, some of them were my friends." She said as tears started to stream down her cheeks.

The Earth King stood up and said, "Then I will make it my priority to have the damages the Dai Li committed repaired and all those who were brainwashed be restore to their natural state." He then stepped toward her. "You won't have to be afraid ever again."

She looked at him and inched herself to him and in and instant, she was kissing the Earth King on the lips.

The Earth King was surprised by this and he cupped her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

She then pulled away and said nervously, "I-I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"Don't be, it was...rather...nice." He said and the two looked at each other.

After a second they kissed each other again as well as embraced one another.

**X X X**

The next morning outside the Palace...

The King and Miako walked down the stairs secretly holding hands while being accompanied by two royal guards as they made there way toward Aang and his friends as they gathered near Appa and prepared to part ways.

Tony stood in his Iron Man armor relaying a message about the recent events to Rhodey and Pepper. He sent the message just as Katara and Toph approached.

"Whatcha doin'?" Katara asked.

"Just sending a message to Rhodey and Pepper, letting them know about the situation here."

"Do you think we'll be able to meet then anytime soon?"

"As a matter of fact, I've been building a satelite, an instrument designed to better send and recieve computerized messages to and from home. Once its built and I send it into orbit around your world, I should be able to talk to them through live feed and introduce you to them then."

"That's great."

"Yeah, two more people for me to mess with." Toph commented.

"Easy there, Toph, we don't want to scare'em away." Katara stated.

"You may not, but I do. It'll be fun." She said with a wicked grin.

Tony was glad his face was masked at the moment so that they don't see how nervous he was, Rhodey might be able to handle Toph's antics but Pepper make a break for the hills at even a harmless one.

Katara and Toph then went over to pet Appa one last time before left and Iron Man saw Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot make their way over toward them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He greeted them.

"We're just getting ready to assist the Earth King in arresting the Firebenders living in the city." Jet stated.

"I still can't believe that they were Firebenders." Smellerbee commented.

"They were just careful in not blowing their cover, that's all."

"But Jet, the last time you accused someone of being a Fire Nation spy was that old man you terrorized and though he was Fire Nation he wasn't even dangerous."

"I was embittered then, I've changed since then."

"Yeah but you were acting paranoid, you even believed that Iron Man here was a Fire Nation spy."

"I was just being careful given that he was traveling with Aang and Katara."

"From what I can tell, you seem to have it out for the Fire Nation." Iron Man pointed out.

"They destroyed my home and killed my family when I was eight, don't tell me you wouldn't have it out for them too." Jet snapped.

"Oh sorry, I didn't know." Tony said sincerely, "But I wouldn't go as far putting innocent people in danger. If you behave like the Frie Nation then what is the point of even fighting."

Jet sighed, "I know what you're getting at, I nearly wiped out an entire Earth Kingdom village that was being controlled the Fire Nation just to get rid of them. I was lucky that Aang, Sokka and Katara stood against me, otherwise I would be a murderer right now. They set me straight and I'm not looking to disappoint them or anyone else."

"Good, because I have a feeling that they're gonna need you more than they know."

"You think so?"

"I know it."

Jet smirked and said, "Man, am I glad you're on our side." He then knocked on his armored bicep. "You and that armor pack quite a punch."

"Thanks."

Over by Appa, Aang nervously looked at Katara and said, "Um, Katara, I need to tell you something. I've been wanting to say it for a long time."

"What is it Aang?"

"Katara, um, I..."

"Alright! Who's ready to get going on our little merrily man trip?!" Sokka said as he gave Aang a friendly noogie.

Katara merely narrowed her eyes at Sokka's interruption.

"Aang and Sokka, I wish you a good journey." The Earth King said as he and Miako reached the bottom of the steps. "Ba Sing Se owes you its thanks. We will look forward to your safe return."

Everyone bowed to him with respect and continued with their preparations as General How approached and said, "Your majesty, there are three female warriors here to see you. They're from the island of Kyoshi."

Sokka was in the middle of climbing up Appa when he heard this and said, "That's Suki! Whoa-!" He then lost his grip and fell off. "Ugh!

"You know these warriors?" The Earth King asked.

"Oh yeah, the Kyoshi warriors are a skilled group of fighters. Trustworthy too, they're good friends of ours." Sokka said proudly.

"Then we shall welcome them as honored guests." The Earth Kings stated.

As everyone was about to take their leave, Katara said, "Aang, wait."

She then gave him a big hug as well as a peck on the cheek.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys." Toph said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Aang and Katara then gave her a hug.

They then group hugged Sokka.

"Oh, great! That's enough! Okay, we love each other, seriously!" He complained as he wanted out of the group hug.

Iron Man, Jet and Smellerbee chuckled at the sight of them group hugging.

Aang and Sokka then got on Appa and took off.

**X X X**

At Zuko and Iroh's apartment...

Zuko woke up to the brightness of the sun and found his unvcle sitting in a lotus formation sound asleep. The former prince got up and went to bathroom and splashed some water in his face; but when he looked in the mirror he saw himself with his hair shaved bald, his scar was gone and he had Aang's arrowhead tatoo on his forehead.

"AAHHH!" Zuko yelled as he leaned up and found himself still in bed, waking from a nightmare.

He felt his face and found that his burn mark was still there.

**X X X**

Appa was flying toward Chameleon Bay as Sokka said, "You see Aang, a little positive thinking works wonders. We got the king on our side, we got Long Feng arrested, Zuko's about to be arrested and when we get back Suki's waiting for me."

Aang smiled and said in a laid back manner, "Yeah, girls waiting for us. Thanks positive attitude."

"Everything is gonna work out just perfectly. From now on and forever."

**X X X**

At the Earth Kingdom Palace in the dungeons below...

A Dai Li agent carried a tray to the cell where Long Feng was residing in and once the small hatch opened, he slid it under into the cell and said, "Dinner." Before leaving he whispered, "(The Council of Five and the military are loyal to the Earth King, but the Dai Li remains loyal to you, Long Feng, sir." He then bowed and walked away.

In his cell, Long Feng smirked devilishly as he ate his meal.

As the Dai Li agent left, he passed a young agent who had been asigned here for cleaning duties after failing to keep an eye on Tony Stark and for being ambushed by the infamous Blue Spirit.

This young agent overheard what his fellow agent had said to Long Feng and knew something was wrong as the Dai Li were supposed to be loyal to the king and the people, not a traitorous advisor.

Something bad was about to happen and it was his responsibility to stop it.

**X X X**

At the residence Toph's Mom resides in...

Toph made her way to the house where her mom was supposed to be staying and took a deep breath before she knocked on the door that was already open.

She walked in and said, "Hello? Mom? Anyone home?"

As she stood in the middle of the empty room, she sensed something wrong but before she could act, a big metal box closed down around her.

"AH! Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with?!" She said as she frantically felt her way around the box.

"One loud-mouthed little brat who strayed too far from home." Said the voice of

**X X X**

Outside the Earth Kingdom Palace...

Two lines of troops stood at attention as three Kyoshi dressed warriors made their way toward the Earth King who stood at the bottom of the steps with Miako, Iron Man and two royal guards beside him. The three warriors then bowed as they neared him.

"In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors." The Earth King announced.

"We are the Earth King's servants." Said the head Kyoshi Warrior who unbeknownst to everyone was secretly Azula, princess of the Fire Nation, in disguise along with her friends Mai and Ty-Lee with the clothes they took from Suki and her friends after defeating them some time ago.

She looked at the Earth King and then at Iron Man, she had been told about him by the Mandarin and seeing him made her even more curious about the world the two strangers came from.

The fact that she was standing before the Earth King and that some of the Avatar's friends didn't recognize her due to never seeing her before meant one thing.

They had successfully infiltrated Ba Sing Se.

* * *

**This concludes Chapter 5 and business is starting to pick up.**

**The "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC came to me after seeing Iron Man's attack on Loki in the Avengers, hearing it made me feel like I was watching Iron Man 2 and I got all gitty and I felt the need to apply it in here.**

**Next Chapter: Crossroads of Destiny - Part 1**

**Aang goes to a Guru and in his Avatar training, Sokka goes to his father, Jet goes to arrest Zuko and Iroh, Katara and Tony help the Council of Five and the military prepare for the invasion and a young Dai Li agent warns them of a coup about to take place.**


End file.
